The independent commission charged with overseeing voter registration and electoral activities in the run up to Timor-Leste's first local elections has reported that the process is going well and that the number of people who registered to vote was higher than expected.

At a special news conference, the National Election Commission (CNE) reviewed the government's efforts to prepare for upcoming elections and gave a detailed account of the commission's own activities since it was established in March. CNE has 13 members, nominated by different branches of government; seven are women, including the group's leader.

The commission got off to a bumpy start. With no funding of its own, CNE members had to rely on in-kind offers from the government. But the office space allocated by the government had no office equipment or supplies, and a government vehicle came without any funding for fuel. Even the technical requirement that the names of the commission members must be published in the government's official Journal of the Republic has yet to be met. A USAID grant in June helped the commission find office space, equipment, and transportation to enable its members to work more effectively.

Despite the initial lack of money and facilities, commission members have traveled to all 13 of Timor-Leste's districts, sometimes using their own money and resources. They have been monitoring the voter registration process carried out by the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) and evaluating complaints about registrations, and they continue to meet regularly to discuss the results.

At the news conference, CNE highlighted some of the problems its members encountered on their monitoring trips. Most problems were associated with the short voter registration schedule, including:

• inadequate training for officials disseminating information about voter registration
• too few officials to register voters in villages across the country
• insufficient civic education for voters about the registration process.

Based on its monitoring work, CNE also made several recommendations about the voter registration process and the preparations for the upcoming local elections. CNE proposed that its members work with STAE to extend the registration deadline so that more eligible voters can register. The commission also called for more support from the government for STAE and CNE to ensure domestic and international confidence in the registration and election processes. And it recommended that STAE expand its public education campaign about nominating candidates and understanding proportional representation.

USAID supported CNE with a grant of $41,500 for office equipment, supplies, transportation, and printing. USAID has funded a range of activities to assist Timor-Leste's elections and elections systems, starting with the election of the new Constituent Assembly in 2001. Such grants strengthen the country's democratic institutions, encourage public participation in civic affairs, and establish a transparent and accountable electoral system.

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