* Election commission asks UN to reopen printing tender
* New bid means two-week delay to tight timetable
* Jan. 9 vote date in doubt - diplomatic source
KHARTOUM, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Sudan has asked the United Nations to reopen a tender to print ballot papers for the south's referendum on secession which will likely delay the vote set for Jan. 9, diplomats and observers said on Wednesday.
The referendum commission planning the vote -- which is expected to create the world's newest nation -- has a tight schedule and has said any delay could make a Jan. 9 vote impossible.
Despite this, the commission asked the United Nations to reopen a tender to print the ballot papers, which closed in mid November, to allow Sudanese firms to bid, with a deadline of Dec. 5.
"The commission just requested the bidding be reopened for some time to enable Sudanese printing companies to apply if they think they can compete," said George Makuer, acting spokesman for the commission. He declined to comment on whether it would delay the vote.
But a senior official in the commission told Reuters it had taken five weeks to print the registration materials and the United Nations says it needs up to three weeks to distribute voting materials to the south, which has little infrastructure.
"Everyone is in somewhat of a panic about this. It seems we may have lost the Jan. 9 date," said one diplomatic source in Khartoum.
The United Nations could not immediately comment on why it had agreed to reopen the bid. Sudanese observers said they had warned against the move but had been ignored.
"They now have to move the polling back 10 days," said Ali Mohamed, spokesman for the SuGDE observers. "Really this is a political issue."
Mohamed said northern Sudan's ruling National Congress Party and the southern ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) would need to make a decision on the date.
An extension of one week for the registration has also put pressure on the vote deadline, which the SPLM has said is a red line, fearing a significant delay may cause violence among southerners which they may not be able to control.
Southern officials had said they wanted the voting and registration materials printed in a neutral location outside Sudan to avoid any possibility of manipulation.
Sudan's government printing press was at the centre of a scandal during April elections which sparked a boycott by many opposition parties. It won tenders to print ballot papers and registration materials despite not being the cheapest option, which the opposition said opened the door to fraud by the ruling party. (Reporting by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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