Sudan Dispatch: Reasons for Voting

Bentiu, Sudan—Nyakuoth Jon arrived at a local polling station at 3 a.m. on Sunday, when voting began in southern Sudan’s self-determination referendum. Even at that early hour, she found many people already crowded in line. Jon, the mother of nine children, sat on the ground outside the station (which, any other day, serves as a primary school) for five hours until the voting booths opened. As she told me, there was no question that she would wait that long: Jon wanted to be make sure she cast her ballot on the first day of the week-long vote. Read the rest of the article as it appeared . . .