Nairobi — Voter registration and the election date in Sudan have been extended slightly to accommodate delays incurred in the process in some areas of the vast country, the National Elections Commission said.

Voter registration, it added, would now end on 7 December instead of 30 November, and elections would be held on 11 April instead of 5 April 2010.

The decision came amid growing concerns that voter registration has been bogged down by various challenges. Justin Willis, a specialist in African election history, recently said the process had been mismanaged and voter education critically delayed.

In an update to a report by the Rift Valley Institute entitled Elections in Sudan: Learning from Experience, Willis called for international support for the process. "In Sudan the stakes are high," the report notes. "If this election lacks credibility, it is hard to see how the Comprehensive Peace Agreement can survive."

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]