Measures for Election of Deputies from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to the National People’s Congress and the Local People’s Congresses at or Above the County Level

(Adopted at the 19th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People’s Congress on June 10, 1981; revised at the 22nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People’s Congress on October 29, 1996; amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision on Amending the Measures for Election of Deputies from the Chinese People's Liberation Army to the National People's Congress and the Local People's Congresses at or Above the County Level made by the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People's Congress at its 27th Meeting on June 30, 2012; and amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision on Amending the Measures for Election of Deputies from the Chinese People's Liberation Army to the National People's Congress and the Local People's Congresses at or Above the County Level made by the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress at its 28th Meeting on April 29, 2021)

Contents

Chapter I    General Provisions

Chapter II   Election Committees

Chapter III   Decision on and Allocation of the Number of Deputies

Chapter IV   Electoral Districts and Electoral Units

Chapter V    Nomination of Candidates for Deputies

Chapter VI   Election Procedure

Chapter VII  Supervision over and Removal, Resignation and By-election of Deputies

Chapter VIII   Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I

General Provisions

Article 1 These Measures are enacted in accordance with the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China and relevant provisions of the Electoral Law of the National People’s Congress and Local People’s Congresses of the People’s Republic of China.

Article 2 Servicepersons of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and other persons who take part in the military deputy election shall, according to these Measures, elect their deputies to the National People’s Congress and to the local people’s congresses at or above the county level.

Article 3 An election committee shall be established for the People’s Liberation Army as a whole and for each of the unit of the People’s Liberation Army at or above the regimental level.

The Election Committee of the People’s Liberation Army shall lead the election-related work of the entire military. Election committees at other levels shall direct the election-related work of the units at their respective levels.

Article 4 The servicepersons’ committees of units at the company level or other primary-level units shall direct the election-related work of the units.

Article 5 Participants in the military deputy election are servicepersons and civilian staff of the People’s Liberation Army, as well as the retirees and other persons under the military administration.

 Where the distance between the place where a military unit is stationed and the residential area of the local inhabitants poses an obstacle to the military dependents’ participation in the local election, the military dependents in question may, with the approval of the election committee or the servicepersons’ committee, take part in military deputy election.

Article 6 Military representatives stationed in civilian factories or railway, water transport, or scientific research institutions, and military members studying at civilian colleges and schools may take part in local election.

Article 7 All the persons listed in Article 5 of these Measures who have reached the age of 18 are eligible participants and have the right to vote and stand for election, regardless of their ethnic status, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status, or length of residence.

Persons who are deprived of political rights according to law shall have no right to vote or stand for election.

Persons who suffer from mental illness and are incapable of exercising their electoral rights, after verified by an election committee as such, shall not participate in election.

Chapter II

Election Committees

Article 8 The members composing the Election Committee of the People’s Liberation Army shall be subject to approval of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. The members composing the election committee at any other level shall be subject to approval of the election committee at the next higher level.

Election committees shall lead the election committees at lower levels.

An election committee, the term of which is five years, shall exercise its power until a new election committee is formed. Where a member of the election committee is transferred to another entity, dismissed from his post, or discharged from military service, his duty in the election committee shall terminate automatically. Where, due to adjustment of duties or other reasons, a member is no longer suitable to hold his post in the election committee, he shall be dismissed from the post in the election committee. Vacancies in the election committee shall be filled immediately through timely admission of new members.

Article 9 The Election Committee of the People’s Liberation Army shall be composed of eleven to nineteen members, including one director and one to three vice-director(s). An election committee at any other level shall be composed of seven to seventeen members, including one director and one to two vice-director(s).

Article 10 The election committee at or above the regimental level shall organize and provide guidance for the election work of the subordinate units, and shall undertake the following matters:

(1) examining the qualifications of the delegates to the servicepersons’ congress;

(2) fixing the date for election;

(3) publishing the list of candidates for deputies to the people’s congress;

(4) presiding over balloting at the servicepersons’ congress or the servicepersons’ assembly at the corresponding level;

(5) confirming the validity of the results of an election and announcing the name list of deputies elected to the people’s congress; and

(6) presiding over the removal or by-election of deputies to the people’s congress by the servicepersons’ congress or servicepersons’ assembly at the same level, and accepting the resignations of deputies.

Article 11 The election committee at any level shall set an office to handle specific routine matters related to election at that level.

The office is set in the political work department, whose staff members shall be determined by the election committee at the same level.

Chapter III

Decision on and Allocation of the Number of Deputies

 Article 12 The number of deputies to be elected from the People's Liberation Army to the National People’s Congress shall be determined by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

Article 13 The Election Committee of the People’s Liberation Army shall allocate quotas of deputies of different entities, such as the Central Military Commission functional bodies, theater commands, services and arms of the armed forces, Academy of Military Science, National Defense University, and National University of Defense Technology to the National People’s Congress. Offices and agencies directly under the Central Military Commission that are managed by designated departments shall participate in the elections held by the latter.

Article 14 The number of deputies to be elected from the military units to the local people’s congresses at or above the county level shall be determined by the standing committees of the people’s congresses of the places where the military units are stationed.

Matters concerning the election shall be decided respectively by the provincial military commands (the Beijing Garrison Command and local garrison commands), military sub-commands (local garrison commands) and people’s armed forces departments in consultation with the standing committees of the people’s congresses at the places where the military units are stationed.

Chapter IV

Electoral Districts and Electoral Units

Article 15 Deputies to the people’s congress at the county level from stationed military units shall be elected directly in the electoral district by the servicepersons and other persons qualified to participate in the military deputy election who are stationed in that administrative region. Electoral districts shall be zoned according to the distribution of the military units stationed in that administrative region.

The zoning of electoral districts shall be determined to make sure that one to three deputies are elected from each electoral district.

Article 16 Deputies of stationed military units to the people’s congresses of cities divided into districts, autonomous prefectures, provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be elected at the servicepersons’ congresses convened by units at or above the regimental level.

The servicepersons’ congresses of the Central Military Commission functional bodies, theater commands, services and arms of the armed forces, Academy of Military Science, National Defense University, National University of Defense Technology and of other military entities elect the deputies to the National People’s Congress.

Article 17 Delegates to the servicepersons’ congress of a unit at or above the division level shall be elected at the servicepersons’ congress at the next lower level. Where no servicepersons’ congress is held by the unit at the next lower level, the delegates shall be elected at the servicepersons’ assembly.

Delegates to the servicepersons’ congress of a unit at the brigade or regimental level shall be elected at the servicepersons’ assembly of the military units at the company level and other primary-level units.

Servicepersons’ congresses shall be convened by election committees, and servicepersons’ assemblies, by election committees or servicepersons’ committees.

The term of office of a serviceperson’s congress shall be five years, and the term of office of a delegate thereto shall begin with the first meeting of the servicepersons’ congress and shall expire upon the convening of the first meeting of the succeeding servicepersons’ congress.

Chapter V

Nomination of Candidates for Deputies

Article 18 Candidates for deputies to be elected by the People's Liberation Army to the National People’s Congress and the local people’s congresses at or above the county level shall be nominated on the basis of electoral districts or electoral units.

Organizations of the Communist Party of China at all levels in the People's Liberation Army may recommend deputy candidates. A group of ten or more voters or delegates to a servicepersons’ congress may also recommend deputy candidates. Those who recommend a deputy candidate shall submit information on the candidate for the election committee or the servicepersons’ committee, and the candidate so recommended shall also truthfully submit his basic information to the election committee or the servicepersons’ committee. Where the basic information submitted by a deputy candidate is untrue, the election committee or the servicepersons’ committee shall notify the voters or the delegates to the servicepersons’ congress as such.

Article 19 The competitive election system shall be adopted for the election of People's Liberation Army deputies to the National People’s Congress and the local people’s congresses at or above the county level, i.e., the number of deputy candidates shall be greater than the number of deputies to be elected.

Where the deputies are directly elected by voters, the number of deputy candidates shall be one-third to one hundred percent greater than the number of deputies to be elected. Where the deputies are elected by a servicepersons’ congress, the number of deputy candidates shall be twenty to fifty percent greater than the number of deputies to be elected.

Article 20 Where the deputies are directly elected by voters, the election committee or the servicepersons’ committee shall, after collecting the information of deputy candidates, announce the name list and basic information of the deputy candidates fifteen days prior to the date of election, and, after sufficient discussion and consultation by the voters of the electoral district, decide upon the name list of official deputy candidates. Where the number of deputy candidates recommended exceeds the maximum ratio of the number of deputy candidates to the number of deputies to be elected as prescribed in Article 19 of these Measures, the election committee or the servicepersons’ committee shall request the voters of the electoral district to discuss and consult with each other over the matter, and decide upon the name list of official deputy candidates based on the opinions of the majority of the voters. Where the voters are unable to reach a consensus on the name list of official deputy candidates, a preliminary election shall be held, and the name list of official deputy candidates shall be determined in the order of the numbers of votes obtained by the candidates in the preliminary election. The name list of official deputy candidates and their basic information shall be published seven days prior to the date of election.

When a servicepersons’ congress of the unit at or above the regimental level is to elect deputies to the corresponding people’s congress, the time for nominating and deliberating deputy candidates shall not be shorter than two days. The election committee at the said level shall print the name list of deputy candidates nominated in accordance with the law and their basic information and distribute them to all the delegates to the servicepersons’ congress at the same level for deliberation and discussion. Where the number of deputy candidates nominated conforms to the ratio of the number of deputy candidates to the number of deputies to be elected as prescribed in Article 19 of these Measures, a voting shall be conducted directly. Where the ratio exceeds the maximum as prescribed in Article 19 of these Measures, a preliminary election shall be conducted, and a name list of official deputy candidates shall be determined in the order of the numbers of votes obtained by the candidates in the preliminary election and according to the ratio of the number of deputy candidates to the number of deputies to be elected as specifically determined by the servicepersons’ congress at the same level, and a voting shall be conducted thereafter.

Article 21 When a servicepersons’ congress is to elect deputies to the National People’s Congress or to the local people’s congresses at or above the county level, the candidates for deputies shall not be limited to the current delegates to the servicepersons’ congress.

Article 22 The election committee or the servicepersons’ committee shall give information on the candidates.

Organizations or individuals may brief the group meetings of voters or of a servicepersons congress on the deputy candidates they recommend. In the event of a direct election, the election committee or the servicepersons’ committee shall, at the request of voters, organize meetings between deputy candidates and voters, in which the deputy candidates shall introduce themselves and answer questions from voters. However, such briefing or introduction shall stop on the date of election.

Chapter VI

Election Procedure

Article 23 In the event of a direct election, the election in each electoral district shall be conducted by convening a servicepersons’ assembly or setting up polling stations under the principle of creating convenience for voters. Voters stationed in scattered places or having difficulties in moving around may cast their votes in mobile ballot boxes. The voting shall be presided over by the servicepersons’ committee or the election committee.

Balloting to be held at the servicepersons’ congress shall be presided over by the election committee.

Article 24 All deputies from the People's Liberation Army to the National People’s Congress and the local people’s congresses at or above the county level shall be elected by secret ballot. Booths for writing ballots secretly shall be provided in the election.

A voter who cannot fill out his ballot due to disabilities or other reasons may ask a person he trusts to fill it out for him.

Article 25 A voter who is absent during the period of an election may, with the approval of the servicepersons’ committee or the election committee, appoint, in writing, a proxy from among the voters. No one may serve as the proxy for more than three voters. The proxy shall vote according to the will of the absentee.

Article 26 A voter may vote for or against a deputy candidate, or vote for any other voter instead, or abstain.

Article 27 When balloting has been concluded, scrutineers and vote-counters elected by the voters or by the delegates to the servicepersons’ congress, and members of the election committee or of the servicepersons’ committee shall check the number of voters against the number of votes cast and make a record thereof; the record shall be signed by the scrutineers.

No close relative of a deputy candidate may serve as scrutineer or vote-counter.

Article 28 An election shall be null and void if the number of votes cast is greater than the number of people who voted, and it shall be valid if the number of votes cast is equal to or less than the number of people who voted.

A ballot shall be null and void if the number of candidates voted for is greater than the number of deputies to be elected, and it shall be valid if the number of candidates voted for is equal to or less than the number of deputies to be elected.

Article 29 In a direct election, the election shall be valid if more than half of all the voters in an electoral district cast their votes. Deputy candidates shall be considered elected only when they have obtained more than half of the votes cast by the voters who voted.

In an election held by the servicepersons’ congress, deputy candidates shall be considered elected only when they have obtained more than half of the votes cast by all the delegates.

Article 30 Where the number of the deputy candidates who obtain more than half of the votes exceeds the number of deputies to be elected, the ones who have more votes shall be considered elected. Where some candidates receive equal votes and the ones to be elected cannot be determined, another balloting shall be conducted for these candidates, and the ones who obtain more votes shall be considered elected.

Where the number of elected deputies who obtain more than half of the votes is less than the number of deputies to be elected, another election shall be held to make up the difference. When another election is held, the name list of candidates shall, based on the number of votes they have obtained in the first balloting, be determined in accordance with the proportion for competitive election as provided in Article 19 of these Measures. If only one deputy is to be elected, the number of candidates shall be two.

 When another election is held to elect deputies to a people’s congress at the county level in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph, the deputy candidates who have obtained more votes shall be considered elected; however, the number of the votes they have obtained shall not be less than one-third of the votes cast. When another election is held by the servicepersons’ congress at or above the regimental level to elect deputies to the people’s congresses of a city divided into districts, an autonomous prefecture, a province, an autonomous region, or a municipality directly under the Central Government, or to the National People’s Congress, the candidates shall be considered elected only when they have obtained more than half of the votes cast by all the delegates to the servicepersons’ congress.

Article 31 The election committee or the servicepersons’ committee shall determine, in accordance with the provisions in these Measures, whether or not the result of an election is valid and shall announce it accordingly.

Chapter VII

Supervision over, and Removal, Resignation and By-election of Deputies

Article 32 All deputies elected from the People’s Liberation Army to the National People’s Congress and the local people’s congresses at or above the county level are subject to supervision by the voters and the electoral units which elected them. Both the voters and electoral units have the right to remove the deputies they elect.

Article 33 With respect to deputies to a people’s congress at the county level, a group of at least ten voters in the electoral district may submit a demand in writing to the election committee at the brigade or regimental level for the removal of a deputy they elected.

In a demand for the removal of a deputy, the reasons for the removal shall be clearly stated. The deputy demanded to be removed shall have the right to defend himself at the servicepersons’ assembly or may present a written statement in his defense.

The election committee at the brigade or regimental level shall print and distribute the demand for the removal of a deputy and the written defense statement of the deputy in question to the voters in the electoral district from which he was elected.

When the demand for the removal is put to the vote, the election committee at the brigade or regimental level shall preside over the vote.

Article 34 When a servicepersons’ congress is in session, an election committee at or above the regimental level may submit a proposal for the removal of a deputy to the people’s congress who was elected by the servicepersons’ congress. In such a proposal, the reasons for the removal shall be clearly stated.

When a servicepersons’ congress is in session, the deputy proposed to be removed shall have the right to defend himself or submit a written defense. The proposal for the removal shall be put to the vote after it is examined by the congress.

Article 35 The demand or proposal for the removal of a deputy shall be voted by secret ballot.

Article 36 The removal of a deputy to the people’s congress at the county level shall be valid only with affirmative votes from a majority of voters in the electoral district from which the deputy was elected.

The removal of a deputy elected at a servicepersons’ congress to a people’s congress shall be subject to affirmative votes from a majority of the delegates to that servicepersons’ congress.

The resolution on the removal shall be reported, for record, to the standing committee of the people’s congress at the corresponding level and to the election committee at the next higher level in the military.

Article 37 A deputy elected from the People's Liberation Army to the people’s congress of a city divided into districts, an autonomous prefecture, a province, an autonomous region, or a municipality directly under the Central Government, or to the National People’s Congress, may submit his resignation in writing to the election committee of the electoral unit that elected him. A deputy elected from the People's Liberation Army to the people’s congress at the county level may submit his resignation in writing to the election committee or servicepersons’ committee of the electoral district that elected him. The acceptance of resignation of a deputy shall be subject to affirmative votes from a majority of delegates to the servicepersons’ congress or participants in the servicepersons’ assembly, and be reported for record to the standing committee of the people’s congress at the corresponding level and the election committee at a higher level in the military.

 Where a servicepersons’ congress is unable to be convened due to task execution or other reasons, the election committee of a unit at or above the regimental level may accept the resignation of a deputy elected by the servicepersons’ congress at the same level to the people’s congress of a city divided into districts, an autonomous prefecture, a province, an autonomous region, or a municipality directly under the Central Government, or to the National People’s Congress. After acceptance of the resignation of a deputy to the corresponding people’s congress, the election committee shall, in a timely manner, so notify the delegates to the servicepersons’ congress that elected the deputy and report the resignation for record to the standing committee of the people’s congress at the corresponding level and the election committee at a higher level in the military.

Article 38 If a deputy’s seat becomes vacant for some reason during the term of office, the electoral district or electoral unit which elected the former deputy shall hold a by-election to fill the vacancy.

If a deputy elected from the People's Liberation Army to a local people’s congress at or above the county level is transferred out of the administrative region during his term of office, he is automatically disqualified as deputy and a by-election shall be held to fill the vacancy.

When a by-election is conducted to fill the vacancies of deputies, the number of candidates may be greater than or equal to the number of deputies to be elected.

Where the servicepersons’ congress fails to be convened due to task execution or other reasons, the election committee at the same level may hold a by-election instead.

Chapter VIII

Supplementary Provisions

Article 39 Expenses for elections in the People's Liberation Army shall be covered by military funds.

Article 40 These Measures are applicable to the election of deputies from the People’s Armed Police Force to the National People’s Congress and the local people’s congresses at or above the county level.