General Information
At stake in this Referendum:
- A referendum to decided if Abyei will join the north or the south of Sudan.
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-BASHIR
- Head of Government: President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-BASHIR
- Assembly: Sudan has a bicameral National Legislature (Majlis Watani) consisting of the Council of States (Majlis Welayat) with 50 seats* and the National Assembly (Majlis Watani) with 450 seats**.
Description of electoral system:
- The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system.
- In the Council of States (Majlis Welayat) 50 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 6-year terms*. In the National Assembly (Majlis Watani) 450 members are elected by popular vote to serve 6-year terms.**
* Two members are elected by the legislature of each of 25 states.
** 60 percent of seats are elected by plurality vote in single-member districts. 15 percent of seats are elected under closed-list proportional representation. Multi-member constituencies correspond to states, and the threshold is 4 percent in each. Finally, 25 percent of seats are elected under closed-list proportional representation from lists that may contain only women. Again, the constituencies correspond to states, and the threshold is 4 percent in each.
Population and number of registered voters:
- Population: 36,918,193 (2011)
- Registered Voters: N/A
Gender Data:
· Female Population: 18,393,712 (2011)
· Is Sudan a signatory to CEDAW: No
· Has Sudan ratified CEDAW: No
· Gender Quota: Yes
· Female candidates in this election: Yes
· Number of Female Parliamentarians: 114 (National Assembly); 5 (Council of States) following the 2010 elections
· Human Development Index Position: 167 (2014)
· Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very High (2014)
Disability Data:
· Is Sudan a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
· Has Sudan ratified CRPD: Yes (24 April 2009)
· Population with a disability: 5,537,728 (est.)