Measures for Election and Decision on Appointments for the First Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress
(Adopted at the First Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress on March 10, 2008)
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 First Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress shall elect the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen, Secretary-General and members of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People’s Congress, elect the President and Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, decide on the choice for the Premier of the State Council, decide on the choices for Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the President of the People’s Bank of China, the Auditor-General and the Secretary-General of the State Council, elect the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China, decide on the choices for Vice-Chairmen and members of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China, and elect the President of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
2. The choices for the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen, Secretary-General and members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, for the President and Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, for the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China, and for the President of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate 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. Among these, the choices for the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen, Secretary-General and members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall first be nominated from among the deputies.
The choice for Premier of the State Council shall be nominated by the President of the People’s Republic of China; the choices for Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the President of the People’s Bank of China, the Auditor-General and the Secretary-General of the State Council shall be nominated by the Premier of the State Council; and the choices for vice-chairmen and members of 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 Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People’s Congress shall be composed of 175 members.
Fourteen candidates shall be nominated for the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen and Secretary-General, for an election in which the number of candidates is equal to the number of persons to be elected.
The number of the members to be elected shall be 161, and on the basis of the seven percent differential percentage, 173 candidates shall be nominated for an election in which the number of candidates is greater than the number of persons to be elected, the difference being twelve in number.
The names of the candidates for the members of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People’s Congress shall be listed in the order of the number of strokes in their surnames and names.
4. An election in which the number of candidates is equal to the number of persons to be elected shall be conducted for the election of the President and Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China, the President of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
5. At the First Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress the election shall be conducted and the decision on appointments shall be made by secret ballot.
6. A total of nine ballots shall be prepared for each deputy for election and for decision on appointments for the current session, among which six are for election and three for acceptance or rejection.
The six are for election of: the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen and Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress; the members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress; the President and Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China; the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China; the President of the Supreme People’s Court; and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
The three are for acceptance or rejection of the nominations for: the Premier of the State Council; the Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the President of the People’s Bank of China, the Auditor-General and the Secretary-General of the State Council; and the Vice-Chairmen and members of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China.
7. The ballots for election and for decision on appointments for the current session shall be cast separately at three plenary meetings:
At the 5th plenary meeting to be held on March 15, the ballots shall be cast for election of the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen and Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress; the members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress; the President and Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China; and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China.
At the 6th plenary meeting to be held on March 16, the ballots shall be cast to vote for the choice for the Premier of the State Council; and for the choices for the Vice-Chairmen and members of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China; and to elect the President of the Supreme People’s Court; and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
At the 7th plenary meeting to be held on March 17, the ballots shall be cast to vote for the choices for the Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the President of the People’s Bank of China, the Auditor-General and the Secretary-General of the State Council.
8. With respect to the candidates on a ballot, deputies may vote for or against them or abstain from voting. Those who vote against a candidate may vote for another; those who abstain from voting may not vote for another.
With respect to the choices on a ballot for acceptance or rejection, deputies may vote for or against them or abstain from voting, but they may not nominate others.
9. In the course of election and decision on appointments, when the number of ballots for election or for a vote for the acceptance or rejection of nominations retrieved is equal to or less than that of the ballots distributed, the result shall be valid for the election and the vote; when it is greater than that of the ballots distributed, the result shall be void, and election or a vote for acceptance or rejection of nominations shall have to be conducted anew.
A ballot for election shall be valid if the number of candidates voted for is equal to or smaller than the number of persons to be elected; it shall be invalidated if the number of candidates voted for is greater than the number of persons to be elected.
10. For an election in which the number of candidates is equal to the number of persons to be elected, 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.
11. In the election of the members of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People’s Congress, the total number of candidates who are voted against and for whom voting is abstained from shall be not less than twelve, i.e., the differential number; otherwise the ballot shall be void. Another person may be voted for only when one more candidate is voted against at least, in addition to the total number of twelve candidates who are voted against or for whom voting is abstained from; otherwise, the ballot shall be void.
12. A candidate or choice shall be elected or confirmed only if the number of the affirmative votes he obtains is more than half of the number of all the deputies.
13. In the election of the members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, if the number of candidates who obtain the number of the affirmative votes that is more than half of the number of the deputies exceeds the number of the members to be elected, those who obtain the greater number of the affirmative votes shall be elected; if a vote is tied and makes it impossible to determine who is elected, another ballot shall be cast on the tied candidates and the one who obtains the greater number of the affirmative votes shall be elected. If the number of candidates who obtain the number of the affirmative votes that is more than half of the number of all the deputies is less than the number of the members to be elected, the vacancies shall be filled through by-election at the Second Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress.
14. The results of election and decision on appointments for the current session shall be tallied by computer system. Should the computer system break down in the process, voting shall go on, and after the ballots are cast, they shall be tallied by the staff members of the session under the supervision of the canvassers.
Ballots identified as invalidated by the computer system shall be reexamined and confirmed by the chief canvasser.
15. The ballots for election and for voting for acceptance or rejection of nominations shall be printed in Chinese and the languages of seven minority nationalities—Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazak, Korean, Yi and Zhuang. Because the ballot for election of the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen, Secretary-General, members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and the ballot for voting for the choices for Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the President of the People’s Bank of China, the Auditor-General and the Secretary-General of the State Council are limited in space, they shall be printed only in Chinese, but for the conveniences of cross reference two different lists shall be prepared in the languages of minority nationalities and shall be distributed to each of the deputies of the minority nationalities, one along with the ballot for election and the other along with the ballot for voting for acceptance or rejection of nominations.
16. Ballot-writing booths shall be provided for election by voting and for decision on appointments during the plenary meetings of the current session.
17. There shall be 35 canvassers to be recommended by the delegations from among the deputies who are not candidates or choices whose appointments are to be decided on. One canvasser shall be recommended by the delegation of each province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region, and of the People’s Liberation Army. There shall be two chief canvassers to be designated 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 meetings on March 15, 16 and 17 respectively.
The staff members for tallying the ballots shall be designated by the Secretariat of the session.
18. There shall be 28 ballot boxes in the assembly hall and there shall be no mobile ballot boxes. Deputies shall cast their ballots into the designated boxes, and no one may entrust another to cast his ballot.
19. When the time comes for the casting of the ballots, the chief canvassers and the other canvassers shall cast their ballots first, to be followed by the other deputies in proper order.
20. When the casting of the ballots is over, the chief canvassers shall report the ballot results to the Executive Chairman of the session, who shall declare the election or the vote for acceptance or rejection of nominations valid or invalid.
21. When the ballots have been tallied up, the chief canvassers shall report the result of the election and of the vote for acceptance or rejection of nominations to the Executive Chairman of the session, who shall announce the result to the session.
22. These measures for Election and Decision on Appointments shall come into effect after they are adopted at the plenary meeting of the First Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress.