Being trusted by organizations, agencies and voters in the place of residence to nominate candidates for elected bodies is a great honor for candidates for National Assembly and People's Council deputies. Along with this honor is the responsibility of each candidate to demonstrate the trust of organizations, agencies and voters. That responsibility must first be demonstrated through election campaign activities, one of the factors that determine voters' choices on election day.

A month with lots of work

After the third round of consultation, candidates for the National Assembly and People's Council officially have 1 month to campaign and attract attention to elect them. This period of time may not seem too urgent, but from the reality of having run for the National Assembly, former Deputy Chairman of the Economic and Budgetary Committee Dang Van Thanh said that after receiving the notification from the Election Council, the Election Committee, and the Fatherland Front Committee, candidates need to complete a lot of work. It is not only about learning about the legal regulations on the functions and tasks of the National Assembly and People's Council at the level they are running for election, or the powers and responsibilities of the delegates, but also about joining hands and concentrating on doing many other tasks.

Mr. Dang Van Thanh emphasized that candidates need to maintain close and regular contact with the Election Council and the Election Committee to receive necessary information and instructions; complete their candidacy dossiers fully, concisely and absolutely honestly with their family background, personal history and work history. Candidates also need to fully update the programs and tasks of the industry, field and agency they work for, because only by having a firm grasp of relevant information can they have the basis to give the most complete and convincing answers to voters' concerns; proactively contact their vertical industry in the election area to grasp the local situation, voters' thoughts and wishes. In particular, candidates need to seriously invest time, effort and intelligence to build a personal action program to create sympathy with voters, as well as demonstrate their own capacity and mettle - former Deputy Chairman of the Committee Dang Van Thanh noted.

Thus, it is difficult to seek outside assistance in election campaign preparation activities, and the results depend entirely on the subjective efforts of the candidates. The preparation steps cannot be completed by rushing, without really paying attention, and mistakes will certainly occur. Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Council Nguyen Lam Thanh pointed out that if candidates rush to learn about traditions and behavioral culture in the election area, they can lose points right from the moment they step into the place where they meet voters, because they are not suitable for the behavioral culture. In other words, if they do not learn about and grasp the local situation and prepare themselves to respond to specific situations, candidates will be confused and easily lose points with voters.

Workshop on female candidates for National Assembly and People's Council deputies and promoting gender equality in the North Central region in Quang Binh

Good preparation ensures 70% of success.

At the end of the third round of consultations, the number of candidates for the XIV National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2016-20121 term was quite high, not only ensuring the correct balance according to legal regulations, but also creating great pressure on each candidate. Such a large balance forced each candidate, especially ethnic minority candidates, to constantly think about how to build an image, so that voters could easily recognize, sympathize with and decide to vote for them. On the other hand, the majority of voters have not yet visualized the candidates personally, and have only had access to a brief biography, so every action, statement when meeting voters, and information on the media are closely followed by voters and people.

To build a good image with voters, former Vice President of the Ethnic Council Bui Thi Binh said that it is necessary to clearly show the characteristics of a representative of the nation, industry, and field, thereby creating a difference from other candidates. This difference must be built from small details, through style, dress, language... Candidates need to pay attention to their clothes, posture, hair, and friendly, civilized gestures to create sympathy with voters and people. The image of a candidate is also shown in adhering to time; keeping promises; proactively talking with voters before the meeting to understand their thoughts, promptly including them in the introduction...

In particular, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong suggested that each candidate should be deeply aware of themselves as a typical individual in the community, always maintaining exemplary behavior in their personal life and work, as well as in their family. After the training course, when returning to their locality, each candidate should continue to seek information and improve their knowledge to be confident when talking to voters, creating a good image during the election campaign.

The training conference on campaign skills for candidates for National Assembly and People's Council deputies who are ethnic minorities, recently organized by the Ethnic Council, demonstrates the attention of the National Assembly Standing Committee and agencies of the National Assembly to the source of cadres and sources of National Assembly and People's Council deputies. However, it is clear that, besides some objective factors, the election results are mainly decided by the subjective factors of the candidates. In particular, if the candidates prepare well, the success rate can be up to 70 - 80% - former Deputy Director Dang Van Thanh affirmed.

According to People's Representative