After casting his ballot, Maurice Aduto still had numb feet and hands after enduring the frigid temperatures and snow fall for eight hours while waiting outside in the crowd of fellow Sudanese refugees.

“[I feel] wonderful, really wonderful,” said Aduto, senior in animal ecology. “I did it, finally, I did it, I can say to myself. We’re hoping for independence, but it is just exciting that we finally voted.”

The voting center was hosted at St. Richard’s Rectory in Omaha, Neb. The venue only had sufficient space to hold the polling staff and a limited number of voters indoors at a time, which meant that a constantly increasing group of people was left to stand outside in the unfavorable weather conditions.

Sunday was a day that will be marked in history for Sudanese citizens worldwide; it was the day that they were allowed to have a voice for their country, freedom and dignity.

For the last 50 years South and North Sudan have been in civil war, and in 2005 a Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act was enacted, which called for a vote in Jan. 2011 to allow citizens to decide whether they wanted to unite or  become two countries.

“Today is a very important day. This is the only opportunity in our lifetime to change what has been mistreated for millions in Sudan,” said Joseph Lomoti, junior in biochemistry. “If there are enough votes there will be a split. The secession means we will be first class citizens, we will have freedom, our women will have their freedoms, and there will finally be peace.”

It’s a very serious moment, and the big turnout shows how much people have been truly waiting for this moment, Lomoti said.

The fate of Sudan rests with the registered voters for the referendum worldwide. According to the Irish Times four million voters in Sudan have registered to vote and more than 60,000 abroad in countries such as the United States, Australia, United Kingdom and Egypt, according to the Sudan Tribune.

The 60,000 Sudanese in the United States had eight different locations across the country to vote at in the seven day period from Jan. 9-15.

The South Sudanese Student Association of Iowa State went to Omaha on Sunday, Jan. 9, to cast their ballots for the Sudan referendum.

Aduto, John Kier and Lomoti were a few of the ISU students at the voting location in Omaha, Neb..

Kier, junior in agronomy, came to Missouri 16 years ago from Sudan and was one of the many casting his vote for secession.

“It is a day that will allow the world to see and count our votes for the independence,” Kier said.

“This is the first day we are going to cast our votes, we are happy for it, even though it is snowy and cold, we are happy for it, and we just want to be here and cast our votes, and we are going to cast our votes for separation and not unity,” said Regina Ivo, a Sudanese voter.

Although the distance and weather posed issues for many, hundreds still made it to the first day of voting in Omaha.

Globally, the voting polls are open until Jan. 15. The votes will be tallied and the final outcome will be publicized in early February. In order for the referendum to pass the vote needs to reach 60 percent for secession.