DILI, 17 january 2023 (TATOLI) – The Director-General of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE), Acilino Manuel Branco said that voters who prefer to vote at the parallel voting centers need to register at STAE.
“STAE will directly register voters who want to cast their ballots at parallel voting centers in Dili for the upcoming general elections,” Branco told Tatoli in Dili.
He said voters will no longer need to register at village offices, Education Ministry, Universities, and Hospitals to vote at parallel polling centers.
“Last year during the Presidential Elections, many voters complained as they could not vote in the parallel voting centers due to some technical difficulties such as their names not on the list,” Branco said.
He said that to prevent the same problem from happening, “Therefore, STAE had taken the decision for voters to register directly with STAE to exercise their voting rights in Dili.”
“I acknowledged that parallel voting was not adequately implemented in the 2022 presidential elections. Therefore, voters will have to be directly registered at STAE to be able to vote at parallel voting centers in the parliamentary elections,” he said.
Last year, STAE registered more than 8,000 voters casting their ballots at parallel voting centers in Dili.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
