In Timor-Leste, Timorese citizens will have 696 polling stations to vote from, while in Portugal and Australia for the first time since independence,Timorese citizens will have the opportunity to vote in Sydney, Darwin or Lisbon.

A total of 889 Timorese citizens have registered to vote in Australia, and 510 people in Portugal.

Acilino Manuel Branco, the Director of Secretariat for Technical and Electoral Administration (STAE), said his team were working with the national police department, with 944 police officers set to be stationed across the country to ensure peaceful voting process.

Timor-Leste’s presidential election will be held on Monday March 20, with a potential second round of voting in April, before the parliamentary election in July.  Voting will open from 07:00 to 15:00.

The eight candidates vying to become the fourth president of Timor-Leste since independence include: Amorim Vieira (Independent), Angela Freitas (labour Party), Antonio da Conceição (Democratic Party), Antonio Maher Lopes (Socialist Party of Timor), Francisco Guterres ‘Lu-Olo’ (FRETILIN), Jose Luis Guterres (Frenti-Mudance), Luis Alves Tilman (Independent), and Jose Antonio de Jesus das Neves Independent).

Out of a population of approximately 1.2 million there are over 747,000 registered voters, according to STAE.