Voting in Sudan’s Darfur referendum which kicked off this morning is going on smoothly, according to officials and state-run media.

About 1430 polling stations have been set up for voting including inside IDP camps to determine whether the region should keep its five states or reunite as one entity with a semi-autonomous administration.

Darfur was previously a single province, and rebel groups for several years demanded the reunification of the region, but now they reject the legitimacy of the referendum on this question.

The referendum was mandated by the Doha Document for peace in Darfur, which was signed by several rebel groups but rejected by others. 

Khalil Abdullah, West Darfur governor told Ashorooq TV this morning after casting his vote in a technical school centre in Geneina town that the voting process was ongoing unhindered in all localities.

Meanwhile, North Darfur governor Abdel-Wahid Yusuf voted in the referendum in Al Fasher town. Abdullah Ahmed Juma, head of the North Darfur referendum commission, said that the voting process was going on smoothly in about 500 centres supervised by 680 polling officials amid high voter turnout.

Juma further said reports from the polling stations during morning hours confirmed progress in the voting process. Sadiq Al Nur, head of the South Darfur referendum commission, also told Ashorooq TV that the voting process began in 406 polling centres.

Al-Nur noted that he had inspected polling centres in morning hours and that he saw voters queuing to cast their vote.

Polling stations opened on Monday morning in Central Darfur state. Haider al-Sheikh Al Hindi, head of the Central Darfur referendum commission, said the voting process started in the state.

A member of High Committee for Darfur Referendum said about 153 polling centres in East Darfur began to receive voters in the presence of international observers and national and international organizations. He noted that the committee members had toured all polling stations in the state in order to acquaint themselves with the voting process in East Darfur.

File photo: Election officials during voting in the South Sudan Referendum in 2011. Several polling stations for the vote were open for Southerners in Darfur (Credit: UNAMID)