Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Poll Observer: First Day of Sudan Voting was Peaceful

   Peter Clottey 11 April 2010

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

   Southern  Sudan President and elections candidate Salva Kiir casts one
   of  his  ballots  at  a  poling  station  set in a restaurant in Juba,
   Southern Sudan, Sunday April 11, 2010.

   A top official of the Carter Centerās poll observer team says Sudanese
   were generally interested in voting as the election continues into the
   second  day  in  the  scheduled  three-day general election that began
   Sunday.

   David  Carroll, director of the democracy program at the Carter Center
   said voting so far has been peaceful.

   āSudanese  generally  are  looking interested in the voting process. I
   think  it is fair to see some variability around the country. We donāt
   have  all of the reports from our observer team, but in many places we
   saw  good  turnout.Ā   We  saw people waiting in lines to vote. But in
   many instances, we saw shortages of material or ballots or voter lists
   being delivered to the wrong stations,ā he said.

   The  election,  which enters its second day of scheduled three days of
   voting,  is  Sudanās  first  in 24 years since a civil war between the
   north and the south ended.

   The  election  forms  part  of  the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement
   signed between north and south at the end of the decades-long war.

   Carroll  said there was adequate security that ensured a peaceful vote
   in the poll centers he visited in Sudanās capital, Khartoum.

   āI  was in stations in Khartoum myself, and there was police presence,
   as  appropriate  by election regulations outside the polling place but
   also  nearby,Ā   just to maintain security as needed. But there wasnāt
   in  any  of  the  places  that I was any kind of intimidating security
   presence,ā Carroll said.

   Dr.  David Carroll, Director, Democracy Program, The Carter Center Dr.
   David Carroll, Director, Democracy Program, The Carter Center

   International observers monitoring what many have described as Sudanās
   most  historic  election  in  decades  include  the African Union, the
   European Union in addition to the Carter Center.

   Carroll said the poll observers could be seen monitoring Sudanās vote.

   āThere  is  a  large  international  presence,  and I think itās quite
   important  as  a symbol of the importance of the election in Sudan and
   the  importance  attached to it by the international community and the
   various  international  organizations,  including  the  Carter Center.
   There  is  a  larger  team from the European Union and a big team here
   also  from  the African Union and IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on
   Development) and Arab League and others,ā Carroll said.

   He  pointed  out  that poll observers from the Carter Center have been
   working in Sudan since last year in anticipation of the vote.

.