How do elections work in china

Each province-level unit is allocated a minimum of 15 seats in the legislature, which are augmented by one seat for every , inhabitants. A province like Sichuan with 81 million inhabitants would, therefore, receive about extra seats, while a province like Jilin with a comparatively low population of 27 million inhabitants would be granted a further 58 seats.

The 13 th NPC will also have 36 deputies representing Hong Kong, 12 representing Macao and 13 representing Taiwan, the latter of which are predominately born on the mainland or members of the PLA. This number represents an increase of 62 female delegates from the preceding 11 th NPC.

However, given the overall reduction of the presence of women at the highest level of Chinese politics, it seems unlikely that the share of female members in the 13 th NPC will increase in a significant way and it can be expected that women will continue to account for about 25 percent of the total.

Such is the political landscape of China that large government bodies often require smaller advisory sub-bodies that coordinate the primary flow of information and decision-making capacities. This convention is due to the fact that, unlike in European legislatures, NPC delegates are not full-time politicians with their own offices, indeed they are not remunerated for their service on the NPC, but rather they are private citizens with their own careers and serve in a part time capacity.

However, any change to the Chinese constitution requires a quorum of the full Congress. In addition to its legislative and organizational duties, the Standing Committee is also charged with establishing special membership quotas, so as to assure the representation of ethnic minorities or other potentially underrepresented groups. In Chinese politics these reports serve the vital function of directing the massive mechanisms of state and defining the criteria for success and failure that various state organs are required to adhere to.

This is largely due to the fact that most of the seats in the NPC are held by members from the Communist Party. The inaugural plenary session of the NPC is significant due to its timing within the Chinese political cycle, as well as serving as a point of contact between the population and state leaders.

By law, the first plenary session of the incoming Congress must be scheduled within the first quarter of an election year, usually falling on the middle of March. It follows on the heels of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, usually held in the autumn of the preceding year, which in terms of policy is the pivotal moment for Beijing. The prominence of the CPC within the state bureaucracy and at all levels of Chinese administration means that most major political decisions will have already been extensively discussed and negotiated internally, and by the time they reach the ratification stage, already been subject to extensive revision.

This means that in order to fulfill the obligations of the principle of universal suffrage, the NPC serves as a representative body that allows non-party members to participate in politics. Such conventions are not uncommon and most modern states make use of some form of indirect representation to reconcile the necessity of government with a desire by the population to have some role in the direction the state apparatus takes.

What is less common, for political systems without a Marxist-Leninist underpinning, is a system which rests on the notion of legislative voting through approval or disapproval of a nomination for a position. After a bill is adopted, it becomes a law that needs a decree signed by the president of the PRC to promulgate it.

After an amendment to the Constitution is approved, it is put to the Presidium of the NPC and becomes valid from the day of final approval onward according to article 54 of the Rule of Procedure. Ye Jingcho endorsed the high-profile announcement the 14 candidates used to declare their candidacies and then withdraw.

Local elections will be held in the Beijing municipal area on Nov. Chinese President Xi Jinping said at a central conference focused on work related to people's congresses held on Oct. The local level elections are the only ones in China that use a direct election system, where candidates who win a majority of votes will be elected as local representatives. Search Search. Home United States U. Africa 54 - November 11, VOA Africa Listen live. In an indirect election, candidates receiving the votes of a majority of the deputies voting are elected.

The costs of elections are paid for out of the state treasury. All rights reserved. The population a rural deputy represents shall be more or less the same as those in different constituencies in rural areas. In urban areas, voters of a production or working unit or an institution may vote in the constituencies where they work. Villages of exceptionally large populations or townships of exceptionally small populations may stand as a constituency on their own.

Villagers groups with exceptionally large populations or villages with exceptionally small populations may stand as a constituency on their own. Candidates may be nominated jointly or independently by political parties, mass organizations or more than ten voters, but the number of candidates a voter nominates shall not exceed the number of deputies in the corresponding areas.

Voting stations are established and mobile voting boxes are furnished in the constituencies. Election meetings may be called to cast the vote. Before ballot casting, staff presiding over the election shall tally and declare the number of voters, examine the ballot box in front of voters and organize voters to choose those to supervise ballot casting and help tally the votes. The election is valid when more than half of the voters in a constituency have cast their votes.

The election has to be held another time if less than this figure has cast votes. When the votes received equal or are less than the number of voters who have cast their ballot, the election is valid. If the votes received outnumber the people who have cast their ballot, the election is invalid.

When validity of the casting is confirmed, the counting of votes is finished. When a ballot cast exceeds the number of deputies to be elected, the ballot is invalid. It is valid only when the number of deputies it elects equals or is less than the number of deputies to be elected.