Measures for Election of Deputies from the Chinese People's Liberation Army to the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses at or Above the County Level (1996)

Article 1

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

Article 2

Members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army on active service and other persons who take part in election in the PLA shall, according to these Measures, elect their deputies to the National People's Congress or local people's congresses at or above the county level.

Article 3

An election committee shall be established for the PLA as a whole and for any PLA unit at or above the regimental level.

The PLA Election Committee shall direct the election work of the entire PLA. Election committees at other levels shall conduct the election work of the units at their own levels respectively.

Article 4

The servicemen committees of companies and other grassroots units shall conduct the election work of their own units.

Article 5

Members of the PLA on active service, persons who have retired from active service and for whom arrangements have been made in the PLA or who are waiting to be transferred to local governments for arrangements, workers and office staff serving in the PLA, and other persons who are administratively affiliated to the PLA, shall take part in election in the PLA.

Family members of officers who live together with the officers may, with the approval of the election committee or the servicemen committee, take part in election in the PLA, if it is difficult for them to take part in local election because the residential area of the local inhabitants is far from the place where the PLA unit is stationed.

Article 6

PLA representatives stationed in civilian factories or railway, water transport or scientific research institutions, and PLA 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 shall qualify as voters and have the right to vote or stand for election, regardless of ethnic status, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status or length of residence.

Persons who have been 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, when verified by an election committee as such, shall not take part in election.

Article 8

The members composing the PLA Election Committee 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 at lower levels shall be subject to the direction of election committees at higher levels.

Article 9

The PLA Election Committee shall be composed of nine to fifteen members, including one chairman and one to three vice-chairmen. An election committee at any other level shall be composed of five to eleven members, including one chairman and one or two vice-chairmen.

Article 10

The election committee at or above the regimental level shall organize and guide the election work of the subordinate units, and do the following:

(1) examine the qualifications of the delegates to the servicemen congress;

(2) fix the date for election;

(3) publish the list of candidates for deputies to the people's congress;

(4) preside over balloting at the servicemen congress or the servicemen assembly at the corresponding level; and

(5) preside over the servicemen congress or the servicemen assembly when recalling deputies to the people's congress or holding a by-election and accept resignations of deputies.

Article 11

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

The office shall be affiliated to the political department, and its staff members shall be determined by the election committee itself.

Article 12

The number of deputies to be elected from the PLA to the National People's Congress shall be decided by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Article 13

The number of deputies to the National People's Congress to be elected by the PLA general departments, units at the level of major military command and the General Office of the Central Military Commission shall be allocated by the PLA Election Committee.

Article 14

The number of deputies to the local people's congresses at or above the county level to be elected by PLA units stationed in different places shall be decided by the standing committees of the people's congresses of the places where the PLA units are stationed.

Matters concerning election shall be decided respectively by the provincial military command, the garrison command, the military sub-command or the arm-the-people department through consultation with the standing committee of the people's congress of the place where it is stationed; where a major military command is located in a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, such matters shall be decided exclusively by the major military command through consultation with the standing committee of the people's congress of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government.

Article 15

Deputies to the people's congress at the county level from stationed PLA units shall be elected directly in the electoral district by the PLA members on active service and other persons qualified to take part in election in the PLA who are stationed in that administrative region. Electoral districts shall be zoned according to the distribution of the PLA units stationed in that administrative region.

The zoning of electoral districts shall be decided on the basis of one to three deputies to be elected from each electoral district.

Article 16

Deputies to be elected by stationed PLA 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 servicemen congresses convened by units at or above the regimental level.

Deputies to the National People's Congress shall be elected at the servicemen congresses convened by the general departments, units at the level of major military command and the General Office of the Central Military Commission.

Article 17

Delegates to the servicemen congress of the unit at or above the divisional level shall be elected at the servicemen congress at the next lower level. Where no servicemen congress is held by the unit at the next lower level, the delegates shall be elected at the servicemen assembly.

Delegates to the servicemen congress of the unit at the brigade or regimental level shall be elected at the servicemen assemblies convened by the companies and other grassroots units.

Servicemen congresses shall be convened by election committees; servicemen assemblies shall be convened by election committees or servicemen committees.

Article 18

Candidates for deputies to be elected by the PLA to the National People's Congress and 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 various levels in the PLA may recommend candidates for deputies. A group of at least ten voters or ten delegates of the servicemen congress may also recommend candidates. Those who submit recommendations shall provide information to the election committee or the servicemen committee on the backgrounds of the candidates.

Article 19

The number of candidates for deputies shall be greater than the number of deputies to be elected.

The number of candidates for deputies to be directly elected by the voters shall be from one-third to one hundred percent greater than the number of deputies to be elected; the number of candidates for deputies to be elected by the servicemen congress shall be from 20 to 50 percent greater than the number of deputies to be elected.

Article 20

The election committee or the servicemen committee shall collect the list of candidates for deputies directly elected by the voters and publish it, 20 days prior to the date of election, for repeated deliberation, discussion and consultation by the voters of the electoral district, and shall, in accordance with the opinion of the majority of voters, decide upon a formal list of candidates to be made public five days prior to the date of election.

When the servicemen congress at or above the regimental level is to elect deputies to the people's congress, the time for nominating and deliberating candidates for such deputies shall not be less than two days. The election committee at the said level shall print and distribute the list of candidates for deputies nominated according to law to all the delegates to the servicemen congress for deliberation and discussion. If the number of nominees conforms to the proportion for competitive election as provided in Article 19 of these Measures, balloting shall be held directly. If the number of nominees exceeds the maximum proportion for competitive election as provided in Article 19 of these Measures, preliminary election shall be held. By order of the number of votes that the nominees have obtained in the preliminary election, a formal list of candidates shall be decided upon in agreement with the specific proportion for competitive election as is determined by the servicemen congress at the said level.

Article 21

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

Article 22

The election committee or the servicemen committee shall give information about the candidates' backgrounds.

Organizations or individuals may, at group meetings of voters or of delegates to the servicemen congress, give information about backgrounds of the candidates they nominate. However, it must stop on the day of election.

Article 23

Where deputies are to be directly elected, the election in each electoral district shall be conducted by convening servicemen assembly or setting up polling stations or providing mobile polling boxes. Balloting shall be presided over by the servicemen committee or the election committee.

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

Article 24

Deputies from the PLA to the National People's Congress and local people's congresses at or above the county level shall be elected by secret ballot.

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

Article 25

A voter who is absent during the time of an election may, with the approval of the servicemen committee or the election committee, entrust another voter with a proxy vote. A voter shall not stand proxy for more than three persons.

Article 26

A voter may vote for or against a candidate for deputy and may vote instead for any other voter or abstain.

Article 27

When balloting has been concluded, scrutineers and vote-counters elected by the voters or by the delegates to the servicemen congress, and members of the election committee or of the servicemen congress shall check the number of people who voted against the number of votes cast and make a record of it; the record shall be signed by scrutineers.

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. Candidates for deputies shall be considered elected only when they have obtained more than half of the votes cast by the voters who take part in the election.

In an election held by the servicemen congress, candidates for deputies 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 candidates who have obtained more than half of the votes exceeds the number of deputies to be elected, the ones who have obtained more votes shall be considered elected. Where the number of votes for some candidates is tied, making it impossible to determine the ones to be elected, another balloting shall be conducted for these candidates to resolve the tie, and the ones who have obtained more votes shall be considered elected.

Where the number of elected deputies who have obtained 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, by order of 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 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 servicemen congress at or above the regimental level to elect deputies to the people's congresses of a city divided into districts, an autonomous prefecture, province, autonomous region or 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 servicemen congress.

Article 31

The election committee or the servicemen 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.

Article 32

All deputies elected from the PLA to the National People's Congress and 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 shall have the right to recall the deputies elected by them.

Article 33

With respect to deputies to the 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 recall of a deputy they elected.

In a demand for the recall of a deputy, the reasons for the recall shall be clearly stated. The deputy proposed to be recalled shall have the right to defend himself at the servicemen assembly or may present a written statement in his own defence.

The election committee at the brigade or regimental level shall print and distribute the demand for the recall of a deputy and the written defence of the deputy proposed to be recalled to the voters in the electoral district from which he was elected.

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

Article 34

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

When a servicemen congress is in session, the deputy proposed to be recalled shall have the right to defend himself or submit a written defence. The proposal for the recall shall be put to vote after it is examined by the congress.

Article 35

The proposal for the recall of a deputy shall be voted by secret ballot.

Article 36

The recall of a deputy to the people's congress at the county level shall be subject to adoption by a majority vote of the voters in the electoral district from which the deputy was elected.

The recall of a deputy elected at a servicemen congress to the people's congress shall be subject to adoption by a majority vote of the delegates to that servicemen congress.

The resolution on the recall shall be reported for the record to the standing committee of the people's congress at the corresponding level and to the PLA election committee at the next higher level.

Article 37

Deputies elected from the PLA to the people's congress of a city divided into districts, an autonomous prefecture, province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government or to the National People' Congress may submit their written resignations to the election committees of the electoral units that elected them. Deputies elected from the PLA to the people's congress at the county level may submit their written resignations to the election committees or servicemen committees of the electoral districts from which they were elected. When the request of a deputy for resignation is granted by a servicemen congress or by a servicemen assembly, the matter shall be reported for the record to the standing committee of the people's congress at the corresponding level and to the PLA election committee at the next higher level.

Article 38

If a deputy's post becomes vacant for some reason during his term of office, the electoral district or electoral unit which elected him shall hold a by-election to fill the vacancy.

If a deputy elected from the PLA to a local people's congress at or above the county level is transferred out of his 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 vacant posts of deputies, the number of candidates may be greater than or equal to the number of deputies to be elected.

Article 39

Expenses for elections in the PLA shall be covered by military expenditure.