April 15, 2015
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan extended voting another day in its presidential and legislative election Wednesday as campaigners went door to door to seek voters amid a low turnout that saw poll workers eating and praying to pass the time.
While state media trumpeted a "successful vote," most centers appeared empty amid widespread apathy about a vote certain to extend President Omar al-Bashir's 25-year rule despite an economic crisis and insurgencies roiling parts of Sudan. Al-Bashir also is the only sitting world leader wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges, which are linked to the long-running conflict in Darfur.
Sudan's opposition, weakened by a government crackdown, is boycotting the vote and have called for the formation of a transitional government. "People are boycotting because this is a government that humiliated, terrorized, made us lose hope and stole our dreams. This is a government that led Sudan to a state of war," activist Zahra Haidar told The Associated Press.
Haidar and a dozen opposition figures gathered at the house of a young activist named Sandra Kadouda, who disappeared this week after joining an anti-election campaign. Wednesday night, Kadouda was found dumped in a street after being badly beaten and interrogated about anti-al-Bashir campaigns, said Galal Youssef, a political detainees' coordinator.
Youssef said Kadouda was "taken blindfolded and left blindfolded." Authorities have denied detaining her. To increase turnout, authorities gave awards for polling centers with high turnout. Voters were not required to even show their IDs in order to cast a vote, with many carrying a piece of paper obtained from a local city council their home address. Witnesses said that ruling party campaigners went house to house, calling on people to vote.
At one Khartoum polling center in the upper-middle-class neighborhood of al-Riyadh, turnout was only 15 percent after three days of voting, election official Youssef Ibrahim said. Other workers spread out mattresses in the empty poll place while some drank tea.
"Even if you give people a month, they won't come if they don't want to come," Ibrahim said. "The people are fed up. After 25 years, people have had enough."
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan extended voting another day in its presidential and legislative election Wednesday as campaigners went door to door to seek voters amid a low turnout that saw poll workers eating and praying to pass the time.
While state media trumpeted a "successful vote," most centers appeared empty amid widespread apathy about a vote certain to extend President Omar al-Bashir's 25-year rule despite an economic crisis and insurgencies roiling parts of Sudan. Al-Bashir also is the only sitting world leader wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges, which are linked to the long-running conflict in Darfur.
Sudan's opposition, weakened by a government crackdown, is boycotting the vote and have called for the formation of a transitional government. "People are boycotting because this is a government that humiliated, terrorized, made us lose hope and stole our dreams. This is a government that led Sudan to a state of war," activist Zahra Haidar told The Associated Press.
Haidar and a dozen opposition figures gathered at the house of a young activist named Sandra Kadouda, who disappeared this week after joining an anti-election campaign. Wednesday night, Kadouda was found dumped in a street after being badly beaten and interrogated about anti-al-Bashir campaigns, said Galal Youssef, a political detainees' coordinator.
Youssef said Kadouda was "taken blindfolded and left blindfolded." Authorities have denied detaining her. To increase turnout, authorities gave awards for polling centers with high turnout. Voters were not required to even show their IDs in order to cast a vote, with many carrying a piece of paper obtained from a local city council their home address. Witnesses said that ruling party campaigners went house to house, calling on people to vote.
At one Khartoum polling center in the upper-middle-class neighborhood of al-Riyadh, turnout was only 15 percent after three days of voting, election official Youssef Ibrahim said. Other workers spread out mattresses in the empty poll place while some drank tea.
"Even if you give people a month, they won't come if they don't want to come," Ibrahim said. "The people are fed up. After 25 years, people have had enough."
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