How Democracy in China Work?
Chinese voters can
elect deputies to the primary people’s congresses, and the people’s congresses
can elect their heads at the same level and deputies to people’s congresses at
the next higher level, while the President of the State is elected by the
National People’s Congress (NPC).
I. Who is qualified to participate in the election
Any citizen of
China who has reached the age of 18 shall have the right to vote and the right
to stand for election, regardless of their identities, unless he/she has been
sentenced to the deprivation of political rights by the court. (Article 4 of
Election Law)
II. What are elective
positions
In China, the
National People’s Congress is the State power, in the sense that it is
empowered to make legislation and elect the heads.
The National
People's Congress consists of deputies. Voters cannot elect the heads, but they
can directly elect deputies to the people’s congress at the lowest level.
(Article 3 of the Election Law)
Specifically,
1. How many levels of people’s congresses are there in China?
a)
There
are five levels of people’s congresses in China in accordance with the
descending order of their authorities, namely:
b)
the
National People’s Congress (NPC) at the first level;
c)
the
people’s congresses of provinces at the second level;
d)
the
municipal people’s congress at the third level;
e)
the
people’s congress of counties and districts at the fourth level;
f)
the
people’s congress of townships and towns at the fifth level.
g)
It
also reflects the administrative divisions in China. China is divided into a
number of provinces, each province is divided into a number of cities, each
city is divided into a number of counties and districts, and each county is
divided into a number of townships and towns.
2. Who can be elected directly by voters?
a)
Voters
may directly elect deputies to the people’s congresses at the fourth and fifth
levels, i.e. deputies to the people’s congresses of townships, towns,
districts, and counties. (Article 3 of the Election Law)
3. Who elects deputies to the NPC, and people’s
congresses of provinces and municipalities?
a)
Deputies
to the people's congresses of districts and counties shall elect deputies to
the municipal people’s congress; deputies to the municipal people’s congress
shall elect deputies to the people’s congress of province; and deputies to the
people’s congress of province shall elect deputies to the NPC. (Article 3 of
the Election Law)
4. Who can elect the leaders?
a)
For
the first level, the NPC elects the head of State and the heads of the judicial
organs, i.e., the President of the State, the President of the Supreme People's
Court, the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the
Director of the National Supervisory Commission, and, upon nomination by the
President, decide on the leaders of the central administrative organs, namely,
the Premier of the State Council. (Article 62 of the Constitution)
b)
For
the second level, the people’s congresses of provinces shall elect the heads of
the administrative and judicial organs at the provincial level, namely, the
governors of the provinces or municipalities directly under the Central
Government, presidents of high people’s courts, chief procurators of the
procuratorates at the provincial level and directors of the supervision
committees at the same level. (Articles 8 and 44 of Local Organization Law)
c)
For
the third level, the municipal people’s congress shall elect the leaders of the
municipal organs, institutions, and judicial organs, namely the mayor,
presidents of intermediate people’s courts, chief procurators of the municipal
procuratorate, and directors of the supervisory committee at the same level.
d)
For
the fourth level, the people's congresses of districts and counties shall elect
the responsible persons of administrative organs and judicial organs at the
district/county level, namely, the heads of the district/county, presidents of
primary people’s courts, chief procurators of procuratorates at the
district/county level, and directors of supervisory committees at the same
level.
e)
For
the fifth level, the people’s congress of townships and towns shall elect the
heads of the administrative organs and institution at the same levels, namely,
the heads of townships/towns. There are no judicial organs in towns and
townships, only agencies dispatched by judicial organs at the district/county
level.
III. How to elect deputies to
people’s congresses
The electoral
process shall consist of the following steps: division of constituency, voter
registration, nomination of deputy candidates, and votes.
1. Determination of Election Institutions
Where voters directly elect deputies to the people’s
congresses of districts, counties or townships and towns, the standing
committees of the people’s congresses of districts, counties or townships and
towns shall establish election committees to organize the election.
Where the people’s congresses of districts, counties,
municipalities and provinces are to elect deputies to the people’s congresses
at the next higher level, the standing committees of the people’s congresses at
the corresponding levels shall organize the deputies at the same level to vote.
(Article 9 of the Election Law)
2. Division of constituency
As voters can directly elect deputies to the people’s
congresses of districts, counties or townships and towns, only the elections of
the people’s congresses at these two levels are required to be divided into
constituencies. The quotas of deputies to the people’s congresses will be
allocated to each constituency. (Articles 25 and 26 of the Election Law)
3. Voter registration
Voter registration is carried out by different
constituencies, and the voters’ qualifications confirmed through registration
shall have long-term validity. (Article 27 of the Election Law)
4. Proposal of candidates for deputies
All political parties and people’s organizations may
jointly or individually recommend candidates for deputies. Voters or deputies,
with more than ten people jointly, may also recommend candidates for deputies.
(Article 30 of the Election Law)
5. Votes
Where voters directly elect deputies to the people’s
congresses, the voters obtain their ballots with their ID cards or voter
certificates, and then cast their votes in polling stations and mobile ballot
boxes.
Where the people's congresses of districts, counties,
municipalities and provinces are to elect deputies to the people's congresses
at higher levels, the presidium of the people’s congress at the same level
shall organize deputies to vote. (Articles 37, 38 and 39 of the Election Law)
6. How to determine whether a deputy is successfully elected
Where voters directly elect deputies to the people’s
congresses, the election is valid if more than half of all voters in the
constituency vote. A candidate is elected when he/she receives more than half
of the votes of the voters who participated in the voting.
Where the people’s congresses of districts, counties,
municipalities and provinces are to elect deputies to the people's congresses
at the next higher level, candidates for deputies shall be elected only if they
have obtained more than half of the votes of all the deputies. (Article 45 of
the Election Law)
IV. How are leaders elected?
1. Central government leaders
(1) Nomination
Candidates for the chairman, vice-chairmen,
secretary-general, and members of the Standing Committee of the NPC, candidates
for the President and Vice-president of the State, candidates for the chairman
of the Central Military Commission, and candidates for the president of the
Supreme People’s Court and the chief procurator of the Supreme People’s
Procuratorate shall be nominated by the presidium of the NPC. After the
proposed list is deliberated by the delegations, the presidium will determine
the official candidates' list based on the opinions of the majority of
deputies. (Article 13 of the NPC Organization Law)
The candidate for the Premier of the State Council
shall be nominated by the President of the State; the candidate for the heads
of the internal departments of the State Council shall be nominated by the
Premier. (Article 62 of the Constitution)
(2) Getting elected
Where a session of the NPC elects or decides on the
appointment of leaders, secret ballots shall be adopted, and the candidate who
has obtained more than half of the votes and obtained the most votes shall be
elected. (Article 36 of the Rules of Procedure of the NPC)
2. Local leaders
(1) Nomination
The leaders of local administrative organs and
judicial organs, as well as candidates for members of the standing committees
of local people's congresses, shall be jointly nominated by the Presidium or
deputies to the people's congress at the corresponding level. (Article 16 of
the Local Organization Law)
(2) Getting elected
Where the people's congresses of towns, townships,
districts, counties, municipalities, and provinces elect their leaders at the
same level, the candidate who has obtained more than half of the votes and
obtained the most votes shall be elected. If the number of votes is equal among
several candidates, another voting shall be conducted for those candidates. (Article
24 of the Local Organization Law)
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