Masses turn out for E Timor poll

Voters in Dili began lining up before dawn

By CNN's Joe Havely

DILI, East Timor (CNN) -- U.N. officials have estimated a whopping 93 percent of voters turned out for East Timor's first democratic election.

The high tally for the non-compulsory election -- contested by 16 parties and more than 1,000 candidates -- was based on reports coming out from 145 out of 248 polling centers early Thursday evening.

At least four polling centers in East Timor were still processing voters more than three hours after the official poll had closed, as locals waited to vote in the first election of their turbulent and bloody history.

AUDIO Maria Ressa reports from Dili with the latest (Aug. 30) 1.2MB / 1 min. 58 sec. WAV sound   IN-DEPTH East Timor's journey to nationhood   • Key issues   • Flashback: August 1999   • Photo Gallery 1   • Photo gallery 2     VIDEO Interview with U.N. Chief Sergio Viera De Mello. Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Final preparation for the elections. Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition   RESOURCES Message Board: Timor election

The peaceful almost jovial nature of the election for some 425,000 registered voters was in contrast to the violence two years ago during the tiny nation's independence referendum.

The province was devastated and hundreds of people were killed when Indonesian troops and their militia allies went on the rampage in September 1999 after results of the U.N.-sponsored independence referendum were announced.

Despite fears of bloodshed and of raids by militiamen sheltering in Indonesian West Timor, the campaign has been remarkably peaceful and a few hours after the polls had closed, party observers had made only one official complaint about undue influence by election officials.

At the main polling center in the town of Liquica, where some 3,900 people were registered to vote -- most were already standing patiently in line by mid-morning for a poll that officers said was one of the most peaceful the U.N. has conducted.

The Liquica polling center was just a few meters away from a church where one of the worst single militia massacres took place in 1999.

At least 60 people were killed in April of that year when pro-Indonesian militia, armed by their supporters in the Indonesian military, threw teargas into the congregation at Sunday Mass.

Dozens were mown down in gunfire as they tried to escape and many others were attacked with machetes.

Today the town was quiet. Portuguese peacekeepers stationed there have said that polling day was trouble-free, with no violence for months.

Shaping the future

Polling stations in East Timor

With election day declared a public holiday, voters lined up before polling booths opened at 7:00 a.m. local time, determined to have their say in the future of their new nation.

Voting was slow, and in a few cases the opening of polling stations was delayed because of misplaced documentation.

At a polling station set up next to the main cathedral in Dili, voter education officer Saski Heins from Holland said she was surprised how well the voting process was going -- "It's going so incredibly well, it's scary," she said.

The crowd had proved very understanding of the time it took to process voters and most people knew what they were voting for and how to vote.

"Last time it was just a yes or no question" she said, referring to the 1999 vote on independence from Indonesia. "This time they have 16 parties to chose from."

In the mountain town of Alieu, U.N. voter education officer Thomas Mtaisi said that five months ago, many residents in the area believed they already had a president and so didn't need to vote.

Now, he said, almost all registered voters know why the elections are taking place, what they are for and how to mark their ballot paper.

In a bizarre twist to the country's first elections, patients in hospitals couldn't vote but prisoners could.

Contrast

Jose Ramos Horta: "We are ready"

Former independence leader Jose Ramos Horta voted early in the morning at the Tuana Larang polling center on the outskirts of the capital, Dili.

Horta said it was a "very, very emotional" day.

"For the first time in my 51 year life I can vote, and vote freely," he said.

"People have come in freedom and without violence to vote today."

His sentiments were shared by many of those who turned up to cast their vote in the hot Timorese sun.

Twenty-four-year-old Lucia, for one, said she was "very excited" and had returned from Darwin, Australia, where she has been working for several months.

Another voter, Natalia Florindo da Costa, a 23-year-old mother of three described the contrast between polling day 2001 and the vote on independence exactly two years ago.

"We were very scared two years ago of the violence," she said. "But two years later we are here again and it's peaceful."

Thursday's poll will decide the make up of an 88-member constituent assembly, which will draw up the new nation's constitution and decide the process for electing a leader.

The final result of the ballot is not expected until September 10.

Even then the territory will remain officially under U.N. administration until a new leader is chosen and formal independence is declared -- a move expected to be made sometime in mid-2002.

East Timor, which has a population of 738,000, lies 300 miles (480 kilometers) northwest of Australia in the string of islands that make up Indonesia.