Low Voter Turn Out in Sudan Elections

Most of the opposition parties are boycotting the vote, saying they do not think it will be a free and fair process.

The lower voter turn-out simply means incumbent Omar al-Bashir will almost certainly stay in power.

Small queues formed at polling stations, with voters saying the elections guaranteed stability.

The opposition and Western powers said the polls lacked credibility because of political repression.

The incumbent president and presidential candidate for the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), Omar al-Bashir, accompanied by senior government officials and his two wives casted his vote at the St. Francis School in central Khartoum

Voting glitches

The NEC acknowledged voting glitches in Gezira and Sennar states because of delay in arrival of voting equipments to some polling stations and tardiness of poll workers.

An NCP parliamentary candidate for East Wad Medani constituency by the name of Abdullah Babiker, blamed the chaos on the NEC and said it caused lack of interest in voting because of rudeness by poll workers and refusal to accept any documents other than government-issued id.

A spokesman for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Ali Mohamed Hamza blasted the NEC’s performance, citing a handful of glitches and logistical issues “that would negatively impact the elections reputation”.

Hamza said that up until 3pm 70 per cent of polling stations in the city of Wad-Medani could not accept voters because of these issues.

Two presidential candidates by the name of Esam al-Ghali and Mohamed al-Hassan al-Sufi could not find their names in the voter rolls in their districts, which meant that they could not cast their ballots.

Warns Newpapers Not To Report On Low Voter Turnout

The National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) instructed newspapers to omit any references to the low voter turnout in the parliamentary and presidential elections which started on Monday to a slow start in the capital, Khartoum and neighboring states.

Newspapers were told to report about the elections in a positive light, editors told Sudan Tribune, an electronic news portal on Sudan and South Sudan.

ICC Warrant

Omar al-Bashir has been charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with genocide over the Darfur conflict.

The 71-year-old president, who has been in power since 1989, denies the charges.

The African Union (AU) has rejected the ICC's attempts to have him arrested, arguing that Mr Bashir enjoys presidential immunity and therefore cannot be tried while in office.

The voting period will continue for three days till end of day Wednesday.