OVER NINE HUNDRED ELECTORAL OBSERVERS ACCREDITED

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced today that it has so far accredited 252 international electoral observers from 40 countries, as well as 719 Timorese electoral observers from 18 organizations covering all East Timor’s districts.

The IEC also announced that all polling centers for the 30 August elections have been identified and cleared for security, and that the voters roll and ballot papers are printed and will be arriving in Dili this week. All 5,000 polling staff has been recruited and provisions for their training are ready.

The IEC’s Chief Electoral Officer Carlos Valenzuela said that the polling kits, including ballot boxes, indelible ink and seals for the ballot boxes, have already been assembled in Dili and are now being distributed to the districts.

“Other sensitive polling materials, consisting mostly of ballot papers and polling forms, will arrive in the districts from 17 August, where they will be kept in already identified secure storage areas,” Carlos Valenzuela said.

Copies of the final voters rolls will arrive in Dili on 17 August, in schedule for their exhibition prior to polling. The final rolls will be exhibited from 23 August both in fixed sites at the polling centers and by mobile teams.

Last week IEC staff conducted training sessions on polling and counting for the District Electoral Coordinators (DEC), the Deputy DECs, and District Electoral Capacity Building Officers. These officers, during the course of this week, will in turn be training the 250 international District Electoral Officers, who are responsible for the management of the polling centres.

THOUSANDS OF EAST TIMORESE ATTEND DEMOCRACY EVENT

More than 8,000 East Timorese turned out at a five-hour “Sing for Peace, Sing for Democracy, Sing for Timor” event yesterday evening at the stadium in the capital, Dili.

Twelve East Timorese bands performed songs focusing on nation-building, democracy and peace. Between numbers, the performers elaborated on these themes; many connecting East Timor's journey toward independence and construction of democracy to their painful history. A prominent Timorese TV personality then spoke more formally about the upcoming election, the Constituent Assembly that will result, and the relationship between citizens and the state in a democracy.

Teams from the UNTAET/UNDP-supported National Office for Civic Education and the Independent Electoral Commission also distributed leaflets on the mechanics of the 30 August vote, the remaining steps in the transition to independence, and other civic education themes.