Measures for Election and Decision on Appointments for the Third Session of the Tenth National People's Congress

    Updated : 2016-04-13

(Adopted at the Third Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress on March 8, 2005)

Pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China and the relevant laws, the Measures for Election and Decision on Appointments for the current session are formulated.

1. The Third Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress shall elect the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China, decide on the choices for the other component members of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China and hold a by-election for the members of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress.

2. The choices for the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China, for the members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall be nominated by the Presidium. After consideration by and consultation among the delegations, the Presidium shall decide on the official list of candidates on the basis of the opinion expressed by the majority of the deputies.

The choices for the members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall be nominated from among the deputies.

The choices for the other component members of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China shall be nominated by the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China.

3. The election of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China shall be one in which the number of candidates is equal to the number to be elected.

The number of the members of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress to be elected shall be three, and three candidates shall be nominated for an election in which the number of candidates is equal to the number to be elected.

The names of the candidates for the members of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress shall be listed in the order of the number of strokes in their surnames and names.

4. At the Third Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress, the election shall be conducted by secret ballot, while the decision on appointments shall be made one by one by pressing the button of the voting machine anonymously.

5. A total of two ballots for election shall be prepared for each deputy, one for election of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China and the other for by-election of the members of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress.

The ballots for election shall be printed in Chinese and the languages of seven minority nationalities-- Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazak, Korean, Yi and Zhuang.

6. At the 4th plenary meeting to be held on March 13, the ballots shall be cast for election of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China and for by-election of the members of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress.

With respect to each candidate on a ballot, deputies may vote for or against him, or vote for another person, or abstain from voting. A deputy who votes against a candidate may vote for another person; a deputy who abstains from voting may not vote for another person. Another person may be voted only when a candidate is voted against. If the number of other persons voted for is smaller or equal to the number of candidates voted against, the ballot shall be valid; otherwise, it shall be void.

When the number of ballots for election retrieved is equal to or less than that of the ballots distributed, the result shall be valid for the election; when it is greater than that of the ballots distributed, the result shall be void, and election shall have to be conducted anew.

A candidate shall be elected only if the number of the affirmative votes he obtains is more than half of the number of all the deputies.

7. Writing booths shall be provided for election during the plenary meeting.

8. There shall be 35 canvassers to be recommended by the delegations from among the deputies who are not candidates. There shall be two chief canvassers to be nominated by the Presidium from among the canvassers. The name lists of the chief canvassers and the other canvassers shall be submitted by the Presidium to the session for adoption. The chief canvassers and the other canvassers shall, under the guidance of the Presidium, supervise the distribution, casting and tallying of the ballots at the plenary meeting on March 13.

The results of election shall be tallied by computer system. Should the computer system break down, they shall be tallied by the staff members of the session. Ballots identified as invalidated by the computer system shall be reexamined and confirmed by the chief canvassers.

9. At the 5th plenary meeting to be held on March 14, decision shall be made on the appointments of the other members of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China.

With respect to the choices to be appointed, deputies may vote for or against them or abstain from voting.

A choice shall be adopted only if the number of the affirmative votes he obtains is more than half of the number of all the deputies.

10. The result of the election or decision on appointments shall be announced on the spot by the person presiding over the meeting.

11. These Measures for Election and Decision on Appointments shall go into effect upon adoption at the plenary meeting of the Third Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress.

Appendix:

Points for Attention for Filling in and Casting a Ballot and for Pressing the Button of the Voting Machine

1. When filling in the ballot for election, please use the fountain pen provided by the Secretariat of the Session, instead of a pencil or ball-pen. If you wish to vote for a candidate, please fill up the oval blank space before “For” with the ink of the fountain pen; If you wish to vote against a candidate, please fill up the oval blank space before “Against” with the ink of the fountain pen; If you wish to abstain from voting, please fill up the oval blank space before “Abstain” with the ink of the fountain pen; and If you wish to choose another person, you would have to vote against one candidate for recommending one person, and please put down the name of the person you wish to choose in the column “Name of Another Person for Election” on the right side of the ballot.

2. Please keep the ballot for election neat and clean and see that it is not crumpled, smeared or damaged, or becomes damp, in order to guarantee accurate identification by the computer system.

3. There shall be 22 ballot boxes in the assembly hall. Deputies shall cast their ballots into the boxes in their respective seating areas. There shall be no mobile ballot boxes, and no one may entrust another person with the casting of his ballot.

4. When the time comes for casting the ballots, the chief canvassers and the other canvassers shall cast their ballots in their respective seating areas first. After having cast their ballots, they shall go to the ballot boxes they are responsible for canvassing, and then the other deputies shall start to cast their ballots one after another.

5. When casting of the ballots is concluded in a voting area, the staff members of the current session shall, under the supervision of the canvasser, open the ballot box, take out all the ballots and seal the box up. And then they shall, under the supervision of the canvasser, send the ballots to the Tally Room.

This procedure shall be followed in all the voting areas.

6. The staff members for tallying the ballots shall be designated by the Secretariat of the Session.

7. When the time comes for voting in respect of the nominees, the indicator light on the voting machine will flicker reminding the deputy to press the button of the voting machine. The deputy may press the button to vote for, to vote against or to abstain from voting, as he wishes. If the button is not pressed, no vote shall be reckoned in the total number of the votes.

The English translation is for reference only and if there is any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.