2011 Southern Sudan Referendum
Out-of-Country Registration and Voting (OCV)

  The Southern Sudan Referendum, scheduled for 9 January 2011, will give the people of Southern Sudan the opportunity to vote for either:

• Confirmation of the unity of Sudan, or
• Secession

  The body in charge of organizing this Referendum is the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), which is independent from the governments of both Sudan and Southern Sudan. The SSRC has made provision to enable Southern Sudanese people who live outside Sudan to register and vote in the Referendum.

  Out-of-Country registration and voting (OCV) centres have been established in the eight countries with the largest numbers of Southern Sudanese living outside Sudan. These are: Australia, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA). The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is assisting the SSRC at its request in organizing the OCV.

Registration and Voting

When: 

• Registration has taken place and is now complete. In most OCV countries registration took place from 15 November 2010 to 8 December 2010. Other OCV locations started registration later and therefore finished later.
• Voting for all OCV locations is taking place from:
  
  Sunday 9 January 2011 until Saturday 15 January 2011

Where:                Please click here for the voting locations for the eight OCV countries
How:                    Voting must be done in person

Who can vote:
  Eligible voters who are registered will be able to vote. The vote must be cast at the same Referendum Centre where the voter registers.

Eligibility Criteria
  To be eligible to vote in the Southern Sudan Referendum you must fulfill the eligibility criteria as defined in the Southern Sudan Referendum Act 2009 and further clarified in a letter written by the SSRC. The letter outlines the eligibility criteria for registering and voting for both OCV and inside Sudan. Please click here to see the full eligibility criteria. In addition to the criteria in the letter, a person wishing to vote must:

1. have reached 18 years of age on or before the day of registering
2. be of sound mind
3. be registered in the Referendum Register

Which documents are required: 
  The only document required for voting is the Voter Registration Card each voter received at the time of registering.

Further information

1. Frequently Asked Questions
2. OCV Country-specific Information:
• Locations where you can vote
• OCV Information Centres (Operating hours and Telephone Numbers)
3. The 2009 Referendum Act