Based on the number of registrations received by the government in Timor-Leste and in Portugal and Australia, 747,583 voters are expected to take part in the 2017 general election.
The General Director of the Secretariat for Technical and Electoral Administration (STAE), Acilino Manuel Branco, said of that number 746,251 voters are in the country, while another 1332 are in Portugal and Australia.
“Registrations are closed, but those who are not on the list but have electoral cards can still vote,” said Branco.
The decision to open registrations in only two countries was based on a government resolution approved by parliament.
He said eligible Timorese citizens living in Australia or Portugal can vote in the election at the Timor-Leste embassy or consulate established in the country and will later be notified of the result.
“The voting center will be placed at the embassies [and] the process is the same as in Timor,” he said.
He said STAE was currently preparing technical officials and coordinating with political parties to confirm details about where and when campaign activities will take place.
Meanwhile, national MP Arão Noe said he was proud of the work done by STAE to implement the electoral registration system both inside and outside the country since the law was approved last year.
He explained that overseas registrations were restricted to Portugal and Australia as only those two countries have Timorese citizens living as permanent residents.
“In other countries, they (Timorese) are not living there [permanently], they go there to study and some of them are working,” he said.
