Every 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 his identity, unless he has been sentenced by a court to deprivation of his political rights (Article 4 of the Electoral Law).

In China, the National People’s Congress (CNP) is the power of the state, in the sense that it is empowered to legislate and elect chiefs or leaders.

The National People’s Congress is made up of deputies. Voters cannot elect leaders, but can directly elect deputies to the people’s congress at the lowest level (Article 3 of the Electoral Law).

   Here are some interesting facts about the elections in the country,

   Different levels of popular congresses in China.

   There are five levels of people’s congresses in China according to the descending order of their authorities, namely:

• The National People’s Congress (CNP) is in the first level.
• The popular congresses of the second-level provinces.
• The municipal people’s congress in the third level.
• The popular congress of provinces and districts in the fourth level.
• The popular assembly of municipalities and localities in the fifth level.

These levels also reflect administrative divisions in China. China is divided into several provinces, each province is divided into several cities, each city is divided into several counties and districts, and each county is divided into several municipalities and towns.

   Who can be directly chosen by voters.

Voters can directly elect deputies to the people’s congresses at the fourth and fifth levels, that is, deputies to the people’s congresses of municipalities, cities, districts and counties (Article 3 of the Electoral Law).

   How the deputies to the CNP and the popular assemblies of the provinces and municipalities are elected.

The deputies to the popular assemblies of districts and provinces will elect deputies to the popular municipal assemblies; the deputies to the municipal popular assembly will elect the deputies to the popular assembly of the province; and the deputies to the provincial popular assembly will elect the deputies to the CNP (Article 3 of the Electoral Law).

   Who can elect state leaders.

• For the first level, the CNP elects the State Leaders and the leaders of the judicial bodies, that is, the President of the State, the President of the Supreme People’s Court, the Attorney General of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Director of the National Supervisory Commission and, at the proposal of the President, decide on the leaders of the central administrative bodies, namely the Prime Minister of the Council of State (Article 62 of the Constitution).
• For the second level, the popular congresses of the provinces will elect the leaders of the administrative and judicial bodies at the provincial level, namely, the governors of the provinces or municipalities directly dependent on the Central Government, the presidents of the people’s courts superiors, the superior prosecutors of the provincial prosecutor’s offices and directors of the supervisory committees at the same level (Articles 8 and 44 of the Local Organization Law).
• For the third level, the municipal popular assembly will elect the leaders of the municipal organs, institutions and judicial bodies, namely, the mayor, the presidents of the intermediate people’s courts, the superior prosecutors of the municipal prosecutor’s office and the directors of the supervisory commission of the same level.
• For the fourth level, the people’s congresses of districts and counties will elect the persons responsible for the administrative and judicial bodies at the district or county level, namely, the district or county chiefs, the presidents of the people’s courts of first instance, the chief prosecutors of the district or county level prosecutors, and directors of oversight committees at the same level.
• For the fifth level, the popular assemblies of municipalities and cities will elect the heads of the administrative bodies and institutions of the same levels, that is, the heads of municipalities. There are no judicial bodies in cities and municipalities, only agencies sent by judicial bodies at the district or county level.

   How to elect deputies to popular congresses.

The electoral process will consist of the following steps: division of constituencies, voter registration, nomination of candidates for deputies and voting.

When voters directly elect deputies to the popular congresses of districts, counties or municipalities and towns, the standing committees of the popular congresses of districts, counties or municipalities and towns will establish electoral committees to organize the election.

When the popular assemblies of the districts, districts, municipalities and provinces must elect deputies to the popular assemblies of the immediately higher level, the permanent commissions of the popular assemblies of the corresponding levels will organize the deputies of the same level to vote (Article 9 of the Electoral Law).

Since voters can directly elect deputies to people’s congresses from districts, counties, or municipalities and cities, only elections to people’s congresses at these two levels should be divided into electoral districts. The quotas of deputies to popular congresses will be assigned to each constituency (Articles 25 and 26 of the Electoral Law).

Voter registration is conducted by different constituencies, and voter qualifications confirmed through registration will be valid for the long term (Article 27 of the Electoral Law).

All political parties and popular organizations can jointly or individually recommend candidates for deputies. Voters or deputies, with more than ten people altogether, may also recommend candidates for deputies (Article 30 of the Electoral Law).

When voters directly elect deputies to popular congresses, voters get their tickets with their voter identification cards or certificates, and then cast their vote at polling stations and mobile polls.

When the popular assemblies of districts, provinces, municipalities and provinces must elect deputies to the popular assemblies of higher levels, the president of the popular assembly of that same level will organize the deputies to vote (Articles 37, 38 and 39 of the Electoral Law).

When voters directly elect deputies to popular congresses, the election is valid if more than half of all voters in the constituency vote. A candidate is elected when he receives more than half the votes of the voters who participated in the vote.

When the popular assemblies of districts, districts, municipalities and provinces must elect deputies to the popular assemblies at the level immediately above, the candidates for deputies will be elected only if they have obtained more than half of the votes of all the deputies (Article 45 of the Electoral Law).

   How leaders are chosen.

Central government leaders.

   Nomination.

Candidates for president, vice presidents, general secretary and members of the Standing Committee of the CNP, candidates for president and vice president of the State, candidates for president of the Central Military Commission and candidates for president of the Supreme People’s Court and the chief prosecutor of the The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office will be appointed by the presidential council of the CNP. After the proposed list is deliberated by the delegations, the presidential council will determine the list of official candidates based on the opinions of the majority of the deputies (Article 13 of the CNP Organization Law).

The candidate for Prime Minister of the Council of State will be appointed by the President of the State; the candidate for the heads of the internal departments of the Council of State will be appointed by the Prime Minister (Article 62 of the Constitution).

   Election.

When a session of the CNP elects or decides on the appointment of leaders, secret ballots will be adopted and the candidate who has obtained more than half the votes and the most votes will be elected (Article 36 of the Rules of procedure of the CNP).

   Local leaders, Nomination.

The leaders of the local administrative bodies and the judicial bodies, as well as the candidates for members of the permanent commissions of the local popular congresses, will be jointly appointed by the presidential council or the deputies to the popular congress of the corresponding level (Article 16 of the Local Organization Law).

   Election.

When the popular assemblies of cities, townships, districts, counties, municipalities and provinces elect their leaders at the same level, the candidate who has obtained more than half the votes and the highest number of votes will be elected. If the number of votes is equal between several candidates, another vote will be taken for those candidates (Article 24 of the Local Organization Law).