Sudan Vote Monitor Blog

We have produced a summary of information received by Sudan Vote Monitor up to January 20 covering emerging issues, reports received by category and area, and a timeline of reports received. You can download the summary report or you can view all mapped reports.

Emerging issues

Reports from January 13 – 15 (while voting was still taking place) are mostly positive, with reports indicating a peaceful voting process in Khartoum, Juba, Eastern Equatoria, Northern Bahr ElGhazal and White Nile. Some reports talk of campaigning in and around the polling stations in Juba; one report complains of illegal campaigning in Western Bahr ElGhazal. Reports of minor violence in Juba, Eastern Equatoria and Northern Bahr ElGhazal are reported to not be affecting the voting procedures.

Reports from January 16 – 20 (after voting closed) fall into two categories. Most reports provide summaries of the emerging voting results. Most preliminary results show very high turn out (well above the 60% threshold) and a large majority for secession. The remaining reports regard the removal of observers in Upper Nile, Western Bahr ElGhazal and Bahr ElJabal.

There are no further reports of violent incidents in the Abyei area (or elsewhere).

We have produced a summary of information received by Sudan Vote Monitor in the first four days of voting on the South Sudan referendum covering emerging issues, reports received by category and area, a summary table of reports received, information on polling stations and a timeline of reports received. You can download the summary report and you can view all mapped reports.

Emerging issues

Well over half of the reports received by Sudan Vote Monitor describe positive events. A peaceful voting process was described by reports in Eastern Equatoria, Western Equatoria, Lakes, White Nile and Northern Kordofan. High turn out was reported in Juba, Eastern Equatoria and Western Equatoria;

Most reports from both Juba and Khartoum describe a smooth, peaceful process. However, both cities also report a few disturbances. In Khartoum, there is a report of arrests at a protest and the BBC team was reportedly detained for a few hours. There is also a report of a demonstration calling for expulsion of the SPLM from the North. In Juba, there are reports of two arrests: a domestic observer and two men found with AK-47 rounds.

The majority of negative reports relate to incidents around Abyei, spilling over into the north-south border areas in Southern Kordofan and Unity. Reports describe incidents involving the Misseriya, the SPLA and Gatluak Gai rebels, with differing views on motivation and death tolls. The only other violent incident is a report of clashes between David Yauyau militia and SPLA in Jonglei.

A few reports were received describing out of country voting. All were positive, except for a report of boycotting of the referendum vote in Uganda and Kenya.

On December 10, Fastcompany.com chatted with Fareed Zein, director of the technology committee of the nonprofit Sudan Institute for Research and Policy, in an article spotlighting Sudan Vote Monitor’s SMS-based monitoring.

On December 31, Global Voices blogged about the much-publicized Sudan Sentinel satellite project and Sudan Vote Monitor. The Satellite Sentinel, initiated by actor George Clooney, will use advanced surveillance technology in an attempt to deter acts of violence.

Global Voices cites former British diplomat Carne Cross, who in an excellent entry on his blog, argues that the satellite project, while certainly well-intentionted, might not be the most effective way to prevent violence. According to Cross, violence would most likely be “sporadic” and “highly-localised,” without major troop and equipment movement, and therefore difficult to detect from above. He also argues that the satellite idea relies too heavily on expensive technology, instead of on local people.

In contrast, Cross says, Sudan Vote Monitor will likely be extremely effective. While it, too, relies on technology (mobile phones and the Ushahidi platform), this technology is widespread and relatively inexpensive. More importantly, Sudan Vote Monitor relies on “the wisdom and observations of local people,” who are “surely the best judges of whether conflict is indeed occurring or imminent.”

On January 3, Amnesty International USA also talked about both the satellite project and Sudan Vote Monitor. Amnesty International welcomes both initiatives, claiming that because of efforts like these, “the situation in South Sudan is the best monitored and documented potential human rights crisis in history.” Of SVM, “one of the most impressive initiatives,” they write “if you are interested in the South Sudan referendum, based on mass-reporting and including spatial trends, this is your place to go.”

Reporting on Sudan Vote Monitor is now open!

What to report? We want to hear everything: both the good and the bad. We want to share your experience of the referendum and the events leading up to it. Right now, for instance, you could tell us about how preparations for the referendum are going. Is everything in place? What is the campaigning like? How are people feeling? You can also take a look at the categories of reports on our home page. Every time that we receive a report – via SMS, email or online – we assign it one of these categories.

How to report? For now, you can report online here, by emailing reports@sudanvotemonitor.com or by texting +45609910343. Please make sure you include in your report the location from which you are reporting.

Who can report? Everyone! We want to hear the stories of anyone who is experience the referendum. Reporting is anonymous: we will NOT post your name or your phone number. Please help us publicize the website and email address by sharing it with your friends and colleagues in Sudan.

Where can I see reports? All reports will be immediately posted to our website. When you look at the map on our home page, you will be able to view all reports or to sort and view reports by category.

Do you have any comments or questions? Are we missing anything? Please leave a comment on this blog post!

In less than two weeks, we will start posting reports we receive from Civil Society Organizations, the media and from individuals about the referendum in Sudan. These reports will tell the story of the referendum – both the good and the bad.

But you may be wondering: with so much media coverage of the referendum and so many national and international organizations monitoring events, what’s the point of yet another reporting initiative?

We believe Sudan Vote Monitor is unique for three reasons:

Voices from the ground. Sudan Vote Monitor lets any member of the public report their experience of the referendum. This is direct reporting from people experiencing the referendum as it happens. All you need to share your story is access to either a mobile phone or the Internet. We want to give a voice to anyone who has something to say – good or bad – about what happens during the days surrounding the referendum.

All reports are available online in real time. As soon as a report reaches us, our volunteers will find the location it came from, translate it it into both English and Arabic, verify it with other people on the ground if possible, and then immediately post it online. All reports will also be geo-located and categorised for easier access. You can view them on a map to see where things are happening, and you can sort them by categories to see what types of things are happening. With the shortest delay possible, we will get people’s stories out into the open to a wider audience.

Aggregating reports. As well as receiving reports from the public, we will take reports from any civil society organization that is willing to share them with us. Starting on January 5, we will also produce a daily summary of reports, showing the main trends emerging and events to watch out for. We hope that Sudan Vote Monitor will give a picture of what is happening on the ground as seen by many different people and organizations.

Three weeks from now, on January 9, 2011, the people of South Sudan will go to the polls to vote in a referendum that will decide between remaining as one country with the North or becoming an independent nation. Holding a referendum for the South on unity versus independence was part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended more than 20 years of war between North and South Sudan in 2005.

The purpose of Sudan Vote Monitor is to support the independent monitoring and reporting of the referendum process by Civil Society Organizations, the media and the general public. Sudan Vote Monitor will receive reports via text message, email and through its website. All reports will be mapped by our volunteers and posted to our website in real time. We will also produce a daily summary blog post of the reports we have received.

Reporting will start on Monday January 3, 2011

At the moment, we are busy trying to secure a shortcode. A shortcode is a 4-letter phone number that people can text messages to. Once we have our shortcode, we will be publicizing it as widely as possible, so that anyone from the public can send us a report describing their experience of the referendum.

We are also talking to many Civil Society Organizations to let them know about our service and offer to upload their reports to the website.

Welcome to the Sudan Vote Monitor Blog.

2011 Referendum Coverage Coming Soon!