Why do some localities have to elect additional People's Council delegates?

Preliminary results of the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels of Nghe An province

(Baonghean.vn) - According to the assessment of the Nghe An Provincial Election Committee, the election took place in accordance with the procedures and regulations of the Law and ensured appropriate implementation in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Photo courtesy of Thanh Cuong.

In Bac Ninh, on May 30, 11 Election Teams in 9 communes in Luong Tai, Que Vo, Yen Phong and Thuan Thanh districts held the election of 19 additional commune-level People's Council delegates for the 2021-2026 term. These are units where the number of elected commune-level People's Council delegates is less than 2/3 of the predetermined number of elected delegates.

In Thai Binh, the Provincial Election Committee has set Sunday, June 6, 2021, to hold additional elections for 5 commune-level People's Council deputies of An Hiep commune (Quynh Phu district), Viet Hung commune (Vu Thu district), and Ha Giang commune (Dong Hung district). Nam Dinh province also has 18 constituencies that must hold additional elections due to insufficient number of deputies. Or in Kien Giang, there are also 5 constituencies for electing commune-level People's Council deputies, 1 constituency for electing district-level People's Council deputies that did not elect 2/3 of the number of deputies, so additional elections will be held on June 6.

Explaining why some localities have to elect additional People's Council delegates at the commune and district levels, Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee said that according to the provisions of the law on elections, additional elections are decided by the Provincial Election Committee for constituencies where the number of elected candidates in the first election is not enough for the prescribed number of delegates.

For example, in a constituency with 7 candidates, 5 people are elected. In case the voter crosses out 2 people, the vote is valid, crosses out 1 person, the vote is invalid, but the voter also has the right to cross out 3 people, 4 people, or even 6 people. Any representative with less than half of the valid votes is not elected.

“This is the right of voters. If voters feel that a candidate is not worthy, they have the right not to choose. Here, no one forces voters to vote enough, to vote the correct number of votes” – Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang said.

Discussing this issue, delegate Pham Van Hoa (Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Dong Thap Province, XIVth tenure) said that the election of insufficient number of People's Council delegates at commune and district levels is a very normal story in elections. If we observe the phenomenon of "blue army, red army" in the list of candidates in previous terms, then in this term, Mr. Hoa said that the standards of the candidates are equal in terms of capacity, qualifications, moral qualities, in which the proportion of women, the proportion of young people, and the proportion of non-Party members are all met.

In addition to the constituencies that elected the correct number of representatives, there are also units where the number of representatives does not exceed half of the total valid votes. For example, a constituency with 5 representatives elected 3 people, however, only 2 representatives achieved the majority of votes, the third representative did not achieve the majority and was not elected.

“This is a normal thing in elections, which shows that voters are very fair, impartial, and objective in choosing people who they feel are qualified and capable enough to represent their voices and aspirations in elected bodies. Through this election in Dong Thap, it also shows that the percentage of votes between elected and unelected representatives is not too different,” said delegate Pham Van Hoa.

The provincial working delegation inspected the election work in Dien An commune (Dien Chau). Photo: MH

According to the Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Dong Thap Province, the fact that not enough People's Council delegates were elected shows that voters care a lot about the People's Council at the grassroots level and have high expectations for each delegate, so they consider and choose carefully. Voters know very well what their local delegates are like, so they decide whether to vote or not, so the difference between the elected and the unelected is only a few votes, not too many votes.

From the recent results of the People's Council elections at the commune and ward levels, Mr. Pham Van Hoa also said that it is necessary to learn from the experience of propaganda and election campaigning. Accordingly, the media need to increase the mobilization of voters to vote, encourage voters to research the background as well as have more access to candidates, in order to have a more objective and comprehensive assessment before voting. This election took place in a special context when the Covid-19 epidemic re-emerged with complicated and unpredictable developments, so the election campaigning work of each candidate was also somewhat limited.

“If the number of People’s Council delegates at the commune and ward levels is not enough, the local Election Committee will direct the organization of additional elections to ensure the required number. This also shows that voters are increasingly responsible for their votes. Any delegate who is worthy of representing the will and aspirations of voters will be trusted, highly appreciated and chosen by voters,” Mr. Pham Van Hoa emphasized./.