✶ Voting in the People's Republic of China
One direct vote,
then three more by others.
Every citizen aged 18 or over may vote and stand for election, "regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, occupation, family background, religious belief, level of education, property status, or length of residence", except people deprived of political rights by law (Constitution, Article 34). But voters elect only their county and township people's congresses. Every higher congress, up to the National People's Congress, is elected by the one below it (Article 97).
Five levels of people's congress
Who elects
whom.
- Elected indirectly National People's Congress Provincial-level people's congresses (and the PLA, Hong Kong, Macao and a Taiwan delegation) Candidates per seat: 1.2–1.5×
- Elected indirectly Provincial people's congresses Prefecture-level (city) people's congresses Candidates per seat: 1.2–1.5×
- Elected indirectly Prefecture / city people's congresses County-level people's congresses Candidates per seat: 1.2–1.5×
- Elected directly by voters County / district people's congresses Voters, directly, in single- or multi-member electoral districts Candidates per seat: 1.33–2×
- Elected directly by voters Township / town people's congresses Voters, directly Candidates per seat: 1.33–2×
The People's Liberation Army holds its own elections under separate rules (Electoral Law, Article 6). Hong Kong and Macao choose their NPC deputies by procedures the NPC sets separately (Article 16).
A county people's congress election, step by step
Twenty days
to polling day.
- Election committee
The county people's congress standing committee appoints an election committee, which draws districts (1–3 seats each, roughly equal population), registers voters and sets the date.
Electoral Law Arts. 10, 11, 25, 26 - 20 days before Voter list published
Registration is by district and stays valid; new 18-year-olds and people whose political rights are restored are added. Objections within 5 days; a court rules before polling day, and its ruling is final.
Electoral Law Arts. 27–29 - Nominations
Parties and people's organisations, jointly or alone, or any 10 or more voters together, may nominate candidates.
Electoral Law Art. 30 - 15 days before Nominee list published
Voter groups discuss and consult on the nominees. If there are more than twice as many as seats, the list is cut by consultation, or by a primary vote if consultation fails.
Electoral Law Art. 32 - 7 days before Final candidates published
Between 4/3 and twice as many candidates as seats. The committee introduces them and, if voters ask, arranges meetings; campaigning stops on polling day. Foreign funding disqualifies.
Electoral Law Arts. 31, 32, 34, 35 - Polling day Polling day
Secret ballot with private booths; mobile ballot boxes for the sick and remote. A voter may vote for, against, write in any other voter, or abstain, and may carry written proxies for up to 3 others.
Electoral Law Arts. 37, 38, 40–42 - Count
Valid only if more than half the electorate voted; winners need more than half the ballots cast. Unfilled seats go to a second round where a plurality with at least a third of ballots wins.
Electoral Law Arts. 43–45 - Recall
50 voters (county) or 30 (township) can petition to recall a deputy; recall needs more than half of the district's voters.
Electoral Law Arts. 50, 53
Try it · Electoral Law, direct elections
Count a county ballot.
A two-seat district, four candidates (the law wants between 4/3 and twice as many candidates as seats). Voters may tick up to two names. Move the sliders.
Rules: Electoral Law of the NPC and Local People's Congresses ↗
Try it · Electoral Law, Article 12
How big is the congress?
Every local congress gets a fixed base plus one deputy per so many residents, up to a cap.
260 deputies
140 base + one per 5,000 residents.
What the rules do not say
Choice within
a list.
The law requires more candidates than seats, a secret ballot and a write-in line. It also hands the shortlist to consultation among "voter groups" run by an election committee that the county congress's own standing committee appoints (Articles 10, 32), and the constitution places the whole system under the leadership of the Communist Party (Article 1).
There is no independent election commission, no published district-level results and no independent observation of mainland polls that we could find. Democracy indices rank China accordingly; see the figures on the China overview. Hong Kong and Macao vote under their own Basic Laws: see Hong Kong & Macao.