About 400,000 citizens have so far been registered
nationwide under the new registration system. B.Narantsetseg, director of the
State Civil Registration Authority, explains the system and reports on the
progress so far.

Why
did we have this fresh registration when the apartment and population census
will take place in November?

Citizens’ registration and population census are two different
things. The population census will not require any documents but the registration
is based on documents such as birth certificates and will correct all present
mistakes in the registry about family names and addresses. Fingerprints and
photographs are also being taken..

Will
the new system help reduce election frauds or be able to detect Chinese
citizens who hold Mongolian civil ID cards?

I don’t know if Chinese citizens hold fake Mongolian ID
cards. It is more common for Mongolians to possess fake documents so that they
can go to work abroad. The new system will stop this. Casting votes in more places
than one will be difficult as fingerprints will be checked. We caught a man who
was trying to be registered in two places. I don’t know whether he wanted just to
test us, but in any case we traced his earlier registration.

What
happens if someone wants to move to another place after registration?

Why should that be a problem? All new information will be
saved too.

Children
under 16 are being registered under the name of their mother. What if the
mother is not in Mongolia? Can they be registered under their grandparents’
name?

If the mother is dead, they will be registered under
their father. If the mother is abroad for a long time, they have to wait for her
to come back. Grandparents come into the picture only if they were appointed as
guardians.

So
the child will not be able to receive the money from the Human Development Fund
until the mother comes back?

The money will be given to the grandparents with an
undertaking.

Citizens
born after 1951 are being asked for their birth certificate, but it is quite common
for people to throw away the birth certificate after receiving their ID card.

A birth certificate should never be lost. It is a most
important document, containing information about parents and place of birth. It
is also the only document that is accepted internationally.

Couples
are complaining they have lost their marriage certificate…

People should take more care of their documents. How can
we store accurate information without documents?

What
is the need for Bar codes? Isn’t the registration number enough?

The two are not the same.

What
about Mongolians who have been born in other countries?

They have to produce their birth certificate at the
Mongolian consulate or embassy and be registered there.