Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila is forming a new commission to organize and oversee the next national elections in 2011.
President Kabila enacted the law this week to establish the Independent National Electoral Commission.
DRC officials say the new commission will have four members appointed by the country's presidential majority, and three appointed by the opposition.
The previous election commission was led by non-politicians.
Officials say the new commission will be responsible for voter registration and tallying election results .
President Kabila became the DRC's first democratically elected leader in 2006 when he defeated then Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba.
Bemba claimed the vote was fraudulent, but his claims were rejected by the country's supreme court.
Bemba was arrested in 2008 and charged with three counts of war crimes and two counts of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The charges stem from allegations he commanded a militia responsible for acts of rape, murder and pillage in the Central African Republic during 2002 and 2003.
Bemba has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.
