VZCZCXRO8377
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #1281/01 3190909
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 150909Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4736
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 001281 
 
NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM SU
SUBJECT: PROBLEMS PLAGUE BEGINNING OF VOTER REGISTRATION 
 
Ref: KHARTOUM 1165 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: After two weeks of voter registration for the 
first general elections in Sudan in over 20 years, observers say the 
dearth of information about when, where and how to register has 
confused potential registrants.  The National Electoral Commission 
(NEC) has reported far more people registered than observers have 
seen actually registering; most registrars appear not to be 
following established registration procedures for verifying 
residency within the constituency, and instances of fraud and 
intimidation have been reported. Opposition parties report that they 
have been unable to register their party agents, and have complained 
that the NEC has authorized military personnel to register near 
their duty stations rather than in the constituencies in which they 
reside.  In response to complaints, the NEC has added seven 
additional countries to those where Sudanese may register to cast an 
absentee ballot.  Despite the NEC's responsiveness, the many 
problems with the registration process will require continued robust 
participation by international and domestic observers. End Summary. 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
VOTER EDUCATION INFORMATION LACKING 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Voter registration opened quietly on November 1, with no 
fanfare, few public announcements and almost no public information 
campaigns.  Although the elections budget and voter registration 
plan both called for a major voter education campaign, the NEC did 
not roll out the promised mass media campaign.  One week before 
registration began, NEC instead delegated the responsibility for 
informing the public about registration to the political parties, 
telling them for the first time, that it was their obligation to 
notify voters about where and when to register (Ref.) Parties 
complained openly that they had no funding or other assistance from 
NEC or the Political Parties Affairs Council (PPAC) to fulfill this 
mandate.  Numerous potential voters, even well educated and wealthy 
citizens, have told us that the lack of information about the 
registration process has left them confused and frustrated. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Observers note that the numbers of voters reported 
registered by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) far exceeds 
the numbers of voters likely to have registered individually, given 
first hand observations of the registration locations. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
LOCATIONS OF REGISTRATION UNITS UNKNOWN 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The NEC has yet to publish a list of locations for mobile 
units conducting the registration.  Although the  NEC contends that 
registration centers are open from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm, observers 
said that opening and closing times do not appear to be uniform 
throughout the country.   On November 8, the Khartoum Monitor stated 
"Voter registration is not being made accessible to the common man 
and women in the villages that the (voter registration) information 
needs to reach.  Even in urban areas, people do not know where to 
register."  In a memorandum dated November 12, Northern opposition 
parties told the NEC that the minimal publicity about locations of 
registration centers done on the local news and internet were 
insufficient. (Note: Few Sudanese have internet access. End Note) 
and urged NEC to broadcast the information via radio and newspapers, 
and to post it on public transportation and in mosques and churches. 
 The memo also noted that once the mobile registration center moved 
to a new location, staff at the center refused to register 
individuals from the former location.  Staff refused on the basis 
that the registration center had moved into another constituency. 
In its November 2 statement, the Carter Center highlighted the 
connection between insufficient information on voter registration 
and electoral disenfranchisement. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
OPPOSITION UNABLE TO REGISTER PARTY AGENTS 
---------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) At a November 4 meeting, a high-ranking member of a 
Northern opposition party told poloffs that opposition party members 
seeking accreditation as party agents, in order to observe the 
process on behalf of the party, have been rejected.  Moreover, the 
representative alleged, NCP agents are present and highly visible at 
the registration locations the representative had visited. According 
to the November 12 opposition party memo, staffers in NCP tents 
erected outside registration centers in some constituencies 
fraudulently represent themselves as registrars.  Northern 
opposition parties have complained to poloffs for months that they 
have been unable to mobilize their constituents due to lack of 
 
KHARTOUM 00001281  002 OF 003 
 
 
funding and restriction of their political space by the security 
services.  The memo points out that the NCP has devoted enormous 
resources to the registration effort, and is even paying for 
transportation and other "incentives" for registration staff, a 
practice the memo calls illegal. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
INSUFFICIENT TRAINING FOR REGISTRATION STAFF 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to individuals close to the process, the NEC 
decided to discontinue training for voter registration staff a week 
before registration began. Instead, the NEC decided to rely on state 
election officials who had either sufficient experience or time to 
conduct local training.  As a result, the voter registration staff 
is largely untrained, prone to errors and susceptible to fraud, 
claims Jerome Leyraud, Country Director for the International 
Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).  Observers who visited 
registration centers throughout the first week of registration noted 
that registration is taking only 30 seconds to a minute to conclude, 
with registrars asking no questions to determine the individual's 
ties to the constituency or other information. They reported that 
registration consisted only of handing the applicant a slip of 
paper, which the individual should produce in April in order to 
vote.  They also said they witnessed no registrars refer to training 
manuals. (Note: Although 30,000 staff training manuals were produced 
with U.S. Government funding and provided to the NEC, it is unclear 
how many have been distributed, or at what locations. End Note) 
 
------------------------------------------- 
POLITICS SENDS MIXED SIGNALS TO REGISTRANTS 
------------------------------------------- 
 
7.(SBU)  The unresolved political dispute between the National 
Congress Party (NCP) and Sudanese People's Liberation Movement 
(SPLM) on the referendum law and census issues, in addition to SPLM 
and opposition party boycott of the National Assembly, has soured 
the prevailing political atmosphere.  A group of Sudanese 
businessman complained to poloffs November 7 that the wrangling and 
posturing by political parties have left potential voters uncertain 
about whether to participate in the process. 
 
--------------------------------- 
DIASPORA VOTERS PROTEST EXCLUSION 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) The NEC originally announced that absentee voter registration 
and voting would take place in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi 
Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, the UK, the United States and 
Belgium, but provided no rationale for the selection of those 
locations.  Potential voters in countries with a significant 
Sudanese population, such as Canada, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, 
were vocal in protesting their exclusion from the process.  In 
response to the public outcry, the NEC told poloffs that it had 
added seven additional countries to the list of countries in which 
Sudanese citizens may register to vote: Canada, Kenya, Uganda, South 
Africa, Libya, Yemen and Malaysia.  The NEC told poloff that 
refugees in neighboring countries will be unable to register because 
they do not have Sudanese passports; nor can they return to Sudan to 
register, because they cannot meet the five year residency 
requirement. 
 
------------------------------ 
FRAUD AND INTIMIDATION ALLEGED 
----------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Even before voter registration began, political parties, 
the media and some would be voters alleged political party 
intimidation and preparations to commit voter fraud. In the first 
week of registration, Emboffs received reports of examples of fraud 
and intimidation. 
Other diplomatic missions and observers corroborated these reports 
during a NEC Policy Committee Meeting on November 12. Reports 
include: 
 
-- Registration staff allowing persons to register to vote in two 
constituencies, their place of residence and their place of work; 
-- Individuals confiscating newly registered voters' registration 
receipts which are needed to vote in April; 
-- Individuals purchasing newly registered voters' registration 
receipts; 
-- Registration staff failing to check documentation and allowing 
registration by secondary school students under 18, the legal voting 
age; 
-- Political parties conducting fraudulent door-to-door voter 
"registration"; 
 
KHARTOUM 00001281  003 OF 003 
 
 
-- Political party intimidation of registrants at  registration 
centers. 
 
--------------------------- 
NEC CHANGES RULES MIDSTREAM 
--------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) In their memo, the opposition parties also complained 
that the NEC had authorized military personnel to register near 
their duty stations rather than in the constituencies in which they 
reside.  The parties noted that this was done with no prior public 
notice and, without discussion by the NEC.  The memo also claimed 
that the parties observed that the procedure for registering 
military personnel has been changed.  In the first days of 
registration, individual members of the military came to the 
registration locations to register.  Later, officers compiled lists 
of their troops, and completed the registration procedure on their 
men's behalf. 
 
-------------------------------- 
SOUTH "SEIZED WITH REGISTRATION" 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (U) In Southern Sudan, GOSS President Salva Kiir addressed his 
constituents on the eve of the start of registration, calling on all 
people of voting age to register to vote. However, a Presidential 
Order declaring seven days (November 11-17) of public holiday 
throughout Southern Sudan to enable elected government officials, to 
mobilize for voter registration was subsequently withdrawn.  In 
Juba, the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), Sudanese civil society 
groups and international NGOs kicked off the process on October 31 
with a parade.  On November 5, the Episcopalian and Catholic 
Archbishops of Juba registered jointly and called on all clergies to 
"preach the message of registration" throughout the month Of 
November.  One observer noted, "Southern Sudan is suddenly seized 
with the registration process." 
 
¶12.  (SBU) COMMENT:  NEC apparent willingness to make changes, such 
as expanding the list of countries where Sudanese may register to 
cast an absentee ballot, is encouraging.  Nonetheless, the long list 
of problems observed during the first half of the registration 
process argues for continued robust participation in the observation 
process by international and domestic observers if the elections are 
eventually going to meet international norms. 
 
 
WHITEHEAD