Final Provisional Results*

The CNE released the final provisional results today at an afternoon press conference. We arrived late to find the usual crowd of local press and sweating foreign journalists already twisting impatiently in their plastic chairs. The proceedings got underway well after 6 pm, with the somewhat controversial polyglot Fr Martinho Gusmao joined by the more stoical president of the CNE, Faustino Cardoso, who presented.

Today's results were the product of the CNE reopening ballot boxes from Dili (14), Ermera (3) and Manufahi (1) in order to correct what they dubbed "arithmetic inconsistencies." As was expected, the new numbers did not change the standings - Francisco 'Lu'Olo' Guterres will still face Jose Ramos-Horta in the run-off election. These numbers do not show any big jumps or losses for a single candidate, suggesting that these errors were probably not fraudulent. Please click to enlarge table.

I, however, was most interested in a two different sets of numbers:

Total Registered Voters: 522,933
Total Votes Cast : 427,712
Voter Turnout Rate: 81.79 %

Total Valid Votes Cast (compiled from candidate totals): 403,941
Invalid Votes (votes cast - valid votes): 23,771
% Invalid Votes: 5.56%

These figures, while they do not determine the presidency, speak to the engagement of Timorese voters (turnout rate) and to how well they understood the voting process (invalid votes). I would hope to see the later figure drop in the run-off as the ballot becomes less complex and people have limbered up after the first round of voting. Also, it will be interesting to see how the voter turnout rate changes - are people less likely to vote if their favored candidate has been knocked out? Or, are do people view the run-off as the more important, definitive round?

On a final note, the press conference, to the misery of one camera operator, took place in Timor Leste's two official languages: Tetum and Portuguese. Similarly, the press release was not available in English or Indonesian. I will post a translation ASAP.

Photo: The joint KOMEG/ANFREL press conference at the Elections Media Center.


* Writing "Final Provisional" reminds me of when I was editing a piece in which the author insisted on frequently using the term "flat hierarchy" to describe an organization. This prompted me to write Barbara Wallraff of the Atlantic Monthly's Word Court column; she sensibly told me to let it go.