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Sudan’s Election Paradox Adam O’Brien June 2009 In February 2010, Sudan is scheduled to hold its first democratic elections in 24 years. General elections are required by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, or CPA, which the ruling National Congress Party, or NCP, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, or SPLM, signed in 2005 to end a second civil conflict between northern and southern Sudan that lasted two decades, killed 2 million people, and displaced 4 million more. Sudan’s upcoming national election poses a series of thorny questions for the international com- munity, and, to date, these questions have not been acceptably resolved: • The NCP is notorious for ignoring the rule of law, persecuting dissenting Sudanese voices, breaking existing agreements, and using ruthless force against civilians. Why should interna- tional diplomats believe the NCP will behave any differently during the course of an election, and what guarantees and safeguards will be put in place to prevent cheating? • How can a credible election take place in Darfur at a time when the international community is struggling to maintain even bare minimum levels of lifesaving aid there and more than 3 mil- lion people are still internally displaced or refugees? • How can the national election be credible if a ballot does not take place in Darfur given its significant portion of Sudan’s total population? • How do elections fit into a broader strategy of promoting the ultimate goals of power-sharing, governance reform, and the political empowerment of larger numbers of Sudanese citizens? • How can the national election be effectively administered given the complexity of the voting systems, the challenge of conducting voter registration during the South’s rainy season, and the slow pace of voter education efforts? When the CPA was signed over four years ago, credible elections in Sudan were a central element of a multilateral strategy to h