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Final day of voting in S.Sudan’s independence test

15 January 2011 16:45 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. A small handful of voters cast ballots Saturday, the final day of Southern Sudan’s weeklong independence referendum, as officials and observers noted high turnout and praised the mostly peaceful voting process, Associated Press reported.

Celebrations from southerners excited about the birth of their new nation are scheduled to begin soon.

Results will start trickling in immediately after polls close Saturday evening, but there is little suspense. Almost everyone expects the south to vote overwhelmingly to break away from the north, cleaving one of Africa’s larger nations in two to create the world’s newest country.

Officials and observers reported high voter turnout.

Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, the chairman of the south’s referendum commission, said 83 percent of those registered in the south and 53 percent of those registered in the north had cast their votes. He also cited a 91 percent turnout rate among Sudanese voters in eight other countries. Officials had said there were some 3.9 million registered voters.