Voter registration began today in Sudan for the landmark referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan, which is scheduled to begin January 9. The referendum—a key provision of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (PDF) that ended 22 years of war between northern and southern Sudan—will allow the people of southern Sudan to choose either to remain part of a unified Sudan or to secede and form an independent nation.
USAID is playing a key role in supporting this historic referendum process, including the purchase and delivery of voter registration books, cards, and training manuals that are now in use, conducting voter education to inform voters about the process, helping domestic organizations to observe the process, and supporting independent international observation of the process.
Slideshow of Voter Registration from Sudan
More than 5.4 million southern Sudanese are eligible to register, and there are nearly 3,000 registration centers in Sudan that will register voters through December 1. Registration of eligible voters is taking place in Sudan as well as eight other countries that have large populations of southern Sudanese—Australia, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Three American cities are hosting voter registration: Phoenix, Arizona; Omaha, Nebraska; and the Washington, DC, metro area.