Sudan Update: Voting on Secession Referendum Continues; 6 Die in Violence (Al Jazeera)
Monday, January 10, 2011 at 7:53
Polls have opened for the second day of voting in southern Sudan's historic referendum to determine whether the region will become an independent nation or continue to be part of Sudan.
On Sunday, the first day of voting passed off largely peacefully but more clashes in the disputed border region of Abyei left at least six dead.
Sudan Special: The Referendum for Secession by the South
In the southern capital Juba, the atmosphere was festive with voters queueing for hours outside polling stations.
Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from Juba, said that voter turn out of southerners in the north was very low on the first day.
She said that this was possibly because of safety concerns, but also due to the fact that many people travelled to the south to vote.
"This is day two of the referendum and officials are waiting to see how many people turn out in the south, and in the north."
Chan Reec Madut, who heads the South Sudan Referendum Bureau, said that turn out in the south was very high.
"We have never witnessed this kind of turnout before, even during the election," Madut said, referring to last April's presidential, parliamentary and state elections.
"The turnout was emotional."
A total of 3.9 million southerners registered for the self-determination vote that may lead to the partition of Africa's largest country.
Salva Kiir, the president of Southern Sudan, cast his ballot in Juba on Sunday and appealed to impatient voters to spread the voting across the scheduled seven days, after having waited for more than 50 years to choose their own destiny.
"This is the moment you have been waiting for," he told crowds outside the polling station.
"Even if you cannot vote today, you have six more days to vote."
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