by Amina Said

09 May 2007

Dili, Timor-Leste: In the weeks since the first round of presidential voting in Timor-Leste, UNV volunteers have been focusing on using lessons learnt to improve the electoral process. 

East Timorese take to the polls once again today to cast their votes in the runoff between Parliament Speaker Francisco “Lu Olu” Guterres of the ruling Fretilin Party and Prime Minister Ramos Horta.  In the first round of elections last month, over 68 % of the 522,933 registered voters cast their ballots.

As part of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste, UNV volunteers are providing support to all aspects of the 2007 elections, including technical and logistical support, electoral policy verification and advice, as well as best practices. 

The Electoral Assistance Section (EAS) provides support to all Timorese bodies concerned with the elections, including the Technical Secretariat for Elections Administration (STAE); the National Elections Commission (CNE); the National Parliament; and the Court of Appeals.  Nearly 200 UNV volunteers are currently serving in these bodies, providing direct support and logistical and technical advice to STAE and CNE. 

One of the most important exercises after the first round of voting was a full day debriefing involving EAS staff members from all 13 districts working in operations, logistics, training, voter education and monitoring.  Districts prepared debriefing reports, examined the positive and negative experiences in the first round and made recommendations for improvement.  These were then confirmed in an action plan and implemented in the preparations for the second round of elections.

A recommendation made by one of the UNV Electoral Advisors after the first round of elections was to overcome the lack of mass media and community radio by enlisting headmasters and teachers to support voter education.  As a result, students took home the message to their parents that they should participate in the second round of voting.

Another approach was to improve contact with the residents of the 72 camps around Dili for internally displaced persons.  Augustus Davies, Electoral Voter Education District Advisor, reports, “Prior to the 9 April election, information was disseminated through NGOs; now, with the support of the International Organization for Migration and national counterparts, we are entering the camps to provide information directly to people direly in need of it.”