In Sudan, voter registrations are now being accepted in preparation for the country's first election since the split with South Sudan. Unfortunately, many potential voters have no interest in participating.
There's more in this article. Basically, Sudan has had the same president for 25 years, and he is still a candidate despite promising that he would step down. As a result, most people in Sudan don't see the point in voting, because they know it's not a fair election and that he'll win regardless of the results.
The people's assumption is probably correct. The current president has all kinds of human rights violations on his record, and has refused to appear in court about the issues. Even so, I can't help wondering if the people's apathy makes things easier for him. If everyone assumes he's going to win, then that's less trouble for him. But since the assumption is probably correct, a significant opposition among the people would not accomplish much. It's a depressing situation.
I have never lived anywhere with this kind of problem, so I don't know what things are like for the people of Sudan. I don't know what the best course of action would be. All I know is that without fair elections, nothing will change - and if people know their actions don't matter, there will be no desire for that change to occur.
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