§ Mr. Piratinasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why in connection with the Sudanese elections, the minimum age for electors is 25 years; and why the electoral rolls are restricted to males.
§ Mr. MayhewThe Sudan Administration Conference and the Northern Advisory Council, on which representatives of all Sudanese political parties have been invited to serve, decided that 25 years was at the present stage of development the minimum age at which a Sudanese should vote. The vote has been restricted to males to conform with the views and wishes of the Sudanese people. The introduction now of modern Western democratic ideas on female suffrage would be premature and impracticable.
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§ Mr. Piratinasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the forthcoming elections in the Sudan will be conducted on the basis of secret ballot; and what are to be the various methods of voting.
§ Mr. MayhewDetails are clearly set out in the first and second schedules of the Ordinance. In the principal towns, where elections will be direct, voting will be by secret ballot. In the rest of the country secret ballot will be used at certain but not all stages.