KHARTOUM, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's National Elections Commission (NEC) said on Monday its decision to extend the polling period in all the states of the country for two extra days was based on objective justifications.

"The NEC has taken the decision on basis of objective justifications that appeared during the first day of the polling process," said NEC Press Adviser Abu Bakr Waziri at a press conference.

"The decision was also meant to enable supporters of the political parties to easily access the polling stations," he said, adding that "the decision was also meant to ensure a high polling percentage."

He stressed that the NEC has worked to correct the technical and administrative mistakes that occurred during the first day of the polling, adding that the process proceeded normally after correcting those errors.

"The NEC has received many reports from its committees in the states affirming that the polling was progressing acceptably after correcting the errors that occurred in the states," he said.

On Sunday, the NEC acknowledged technical and administrative mistakes regarding voters' lists and names of some candidates in the first day of polling, but said those mistakes were tackled.

More than 16 million Sudanese voters started casting their votes on Sunday to choose their representatives for the presidency, state governors, the president of southern Sudan and legislative councils.

The general elections were the first multi-party elections in Sudan in 24 years.