‘Paramilitary forces cast their vote more than once in North Darfur’

Militiamen reportedly voted much more than once in Saraf Umra. The ballot boxes at the Aradeiba polling centre in Saraf Umra locality were stolen today. Government-backed militiamen are threatening to kill people in Birkat Seira and surroundings, if they do not vote for incumbent President Al Bashir and the local candidate of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

Multiple sources told Radio Dabanga from Saraf Umra that members of the paramilitary Border Guards and other militiamen cast their vote more than 50 times each in the polling centres in the town, in order to raise the ballots number. “They even took children with them to vote.”

Ballot boxes stolen

Militiamen riding a Land Cruiser mounted with a Dushka machinegun raided the polling centre of Aradeiba this (Thursday) afternoon.

“They threatened the polling workers at gunpoint, loaded all ballot boxes on their vehicle, and left,” an eyewitness reported to Radio Dabanga. “The staff did not sustain any injuries.”

Threats

The people living in the area of Birkat Seira and along Wadi Barei have been ordered by members of the paramilitary Border Guards and other militiamen to go to the polling centres and cast their vote on President Omar Al Bashir and the Saraf Umra NCP candidate for the parliamentary election, Mohamed Ismail, nicknamed El Muhajer.

“They threatened to kill us, if we would not comply,” a resident of Birkat Seira told Radio Dabanga.