Complementary elections kick off in Sudan's South Kordofan State

Complementary elections kick off in Sudan's South Kordofan State: "KHARTOUM, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The polling of the legislative and executive complementary elections in Sudan's South Kordofan State started Monday amid concerns that the elections could lead to armed conflicts between the north and south Sudan.

The elections maintain great importance as the oil-rich South Kordofan State has been a war scene between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the National Congress Party (NCP) for over two decades, besides its position as a commercial gateway and a social bond between the north and south Sudan.

Over 600,000 voters are expected to head to the polling stations to select a state governor from among three candidates, Ahmed Haroun from the NCP, Abdul-Aziz Al-Hilo from the SPLM and independent candidate Telephone Koko.

Head of the state's higher elections committee Adam Abdin Ismail told reporters Monday that the committee has received all the necessary materials and the National Elections Commission (NEC) has trained 32 polling officers for the geographical constituencies and 666 chairpersons for 555 constituencies.

He stressed the keenness of the state's election committee to conduct fair and transparent elections, explaining that the NEC has issued 10,000 monitor cards for local political parties and 37 cards for foreign observers supervised by the Carter Center."