DILI, 19 january 2023 (TATOLI) – The Parliamentary Committee A, which deals with the Constitution and Justice held a public hearing on the fifth amendment of the electoral law for Parliament with relevant parties, including the National Electoral Commission (NEC), the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE), the Ministry of State Administration (MoSA), and the Court of Appeal.
The fifth amendment to Law 6/2006, of 28 december, includes the incorporation of a number of innovations, such as the introduction of postal voting, the extension of polling station opening hours, the creation of parallel polling voting centers in the capital Dili and journalists are allowed to vote at the polling center where they cover the parliamentary elections.
“In today’s public hearing, we discussed the incorporation of the innovations introduced in 2021 in the Electoral Law for the President of the Republic into the Electoral Law for the National Parliament,” Minister of State Administration, Miguel Pereira de Carvalho told reporters at the National Parliament, today.
The new amendment allows for the opening hours of polling stations abroad from 7am to 8pm to give Timorese living abroad enough time to participate in the parliamentary elections.
Carvalho also said that voters from other municipalities who wanted to vote at the parallel voting centers should register at STAE.
“Three parallel voting centers would be established in Dili to facilitate those who prefer to vote in Dili,” he added.
According to Minister Carvahlo, after the public hearing, the Committee will present the electoral law to Parliament for its general and special discussion.
The electoral law will be delivered to the President of the Republic for promulgation after Parliamentary approval.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
