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South Sudan will launch voter registration on Saturday for its first-ever elections, racing toward a tight December 22 voting schedule amid persistent internal conflict.
National Electoral Commission Chairman Gabriel Bol Deng announced the timetable on Friday, stating, “The voter registration shall commence on November 14, 2026, and shall close on November 28, 2026.”
The commission has mobilised more than 22,000 staff across 3,161 registration centres nationwide.
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Organising the historic poll presents immense logistical and political hurdles for the world’s youngest nation, which gained independence in 2011 but still lacks a constitution.
Main opposition leader and former vice-president Riek Machar has been under house arrest since March 2025 on charges of “crimes against humanity,” following a devastating civil war from 2013 to 2018 that claimed over 400,000 lives.
Compounding these challenges, the World Bank estimates that 90 per cent of the population lacks state-recognised identification.
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To address the identification gap, Bol Deng assured that local leadership will assist citizens in rural and remote regions.
“If someone does not have an ID, especially in villages, paramount chiefs and other community chiefs can identify that person. We also have identification forms for this purpose,” he explained.
While election equipment has reached regional capitals, distribution to outlying areas remains ongoing, though Bol Deng confirmed that all necessary logistics are secured to publish a preliminary voter register 15 days after registration concludes.
