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Backgrounder: Election of NPC Deputies
Deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) are members of the highest organ of state power in China and are all elected in accordance with law.
All citizens of the People's Republic of China who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote and stand for election irrespective of nationality, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status, or length of residence, except persons deprived of political rights according to law.
According to the Electoral Law, deputies to county- and township-level people's congresses are directly elected by voters, while deputies to people's congresses above the county-level are elected by deputies to people's congresses at the next lower level; deputies to the NPC are elected by people's congresses in provinces, autonomous regions and central-administered municipalities. The armed forces conduct separate elections.
Deputies to the NPC should be elected by secret ballot, and the number of candidates should be greater than the number of elected deputies by between one fifth and a half. All parties and people's groups may jointly or separately recommend candidates for NPC deputies, and more than ten people's deputies may recommend a candidate. People's congresses above the county level, in electing deputies to people's congresses at the next higher level, may elect people other than their deputies.
The number of deputies to the NPC should not exceed 3,000, and the distribution of the NPC deputies should be decided by the NPC Standing Committee. The number of NPC deputies in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the electoral procedures there should be subject to regulations made separately by the NPC Standing Committee.
The election committee should collect and publicize a namelist of candidates for NPC deputies 20 days before the election, and publicize a namelist of formal candidates five days before the election. Electors may vote for or against or abstain from voting, or elect deputies other than the candidates. Candidates who stand for election as deputies to a people's congress can be deemed elected if they receive more than half of the votes cast by electors or deputies present. If the number of candidates who receive more than half of the votes cast exceeds that of deputies to be elected, only those with the greatest number of votes should be deemed elected.
Results of the election should be declared valid or invalid by the presidium. Expenses for the election should be paid by the State Treasury, and election is to be presided by the NPC Standing Committee.
The NPC deputies are subject to supervision by their electoral units, which also have the right to recall the deputies they have elected. An NPC deputy may submit his or her resignation letter to the standing committee of the people's congress which elected him or her.
A by-election should be held according to law by the same electoral unit to choose a new deputy for the position of a deputy who falls vacant for various reasons during his or her tenure.
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