LUANDA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Members of the diplomatic corps and judges of the Constitutional Court visited Wednesday the Scrutiny Center of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) which will be used for national ballots tabulation during Angola's Aug. 24 general elections.
The regulation on the organization and operation of the national scrutiny center states that communication and data transmission systems must allow the automatic centralization of election results and certification of inviolability and non-external interference. Only duly accredited members of political parties, observers, and journalists may have access to the scrutiny center.
The CNE is the entity that oversees the national scrutiny center, all the summary minutes, other documents, information, and national tabulation of results.
According to CNE spokesman, Lucas Quilundo, the visit provided the diplomatic body accredited in Angola with the necessary knowledge on the functioning of the Scrutiny Center, within the framework of openness and transparency of the election process.
Quilundo said that the presence of the judges of the Constitutional Court demonstrated the level of openness of the CNE in the organization of the fifth general elections.
The CNE spokesman said that the technicians to operate at the Scrutiny Center were selected through public tender and specialized training was provided to enable them to perform their new tasks.
Quilundo explained that currently, it is not possible to talk about the definitive number of observers to be accredited since the accreditation process is still underway. At least 50 foreign entities were invited early this month by the National Assembly to observe the electoral process, including members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), among others.
At least 14.3 million voters are expected to cast ballots in the Aug. 24 elections to take place for the fifth time since the nation's independence in 1975. Some 22,560 citizens are expected to vote from abroad. ■