The 60 per cent turnout required for a South Sudan independence vote to be valid has been met, and even surpassed, Souad Ibrahim, spokeswoman for the referendum commission told AFP on Thursday.
Asked about voter participation, Ibrahim said, "It has reached 60 per cent and even more."
Earlier, former US President Jimmy Carter, who is heading an observer mission for the vote, said in the southern capital Juba that the 60 per cent turnout threshhold for it to be valid had been achieved.