BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- President Hu Jintao cast his ballot at a voting booth in downtown Beijing Tuesday, among the city's 9 million voters, to elect new lawmakers at district and township levels.
"I'm glad to exercise my right as a voter of the Xicheng District of Beijing," Hu said at the voting booth in Zhongnanhai, where the central government offices are located.
Out of 6,615 district-level candidates and 15,145 township-level counterparts, Beijing will elect 4,349 deputies to district people's congresses and around 9,941 deputies to township people's congresses.
It is the first election after the Electoral Law, amended last year,that granted an equal representation ratio for rural and urban residents.
Since 1995, each rural deputy had represented a population four times that in urban areas.
The system of people's congresses is essential to China's political system, and full implementation of local people's congressional elections are key to guarantee citizens' right of rule, Hu said.
He expects the new deputies to keep close contact with the people, express their voices and exercise their duties in line with laws.
Former President Jiang Zemin and members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, including Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, also cast their votes either at polling stations or by entrusting others to cast ballots on their behalf.
At some polling stations in Xicheng District, people began to line up to vote at 6:00 a.m. Polls remain open until midnight.
Ninety-six-year-old Wang Yingai cast her ballot for the sixth time in her life.
"I'm in good health and live a good life, so I don't have any detailed requests for the deputies," she said. "But I would like to exercise my duty and help pick a responsible individual."
However, many voters have very concrete requests.
"Many old residential buildings in our district don't have a waterproof layer on their roofs, and residents face a serious problem of water leakage," said Bu Guohua, a 58-year-old teacher from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. "I hope the deputies will express our complaints to the government and help settle this problem."
Wei Ting, a 42-year-old store manager of the Beijing Wumart Supermarket, was nominated as a candidate.
"I had never thought of being nominated. Maybe I serve customers well so people think I'm a warm-hearted person and suitable to exercise the duty," she said.
If elected, she said, she would do some research among her constituency and find out what she could do to help locals solve their problems.]
The city has worked hard to register voters and encourage them to vote, said Liu Weilin, spokesman of the Standing Committee of Beijing People's Congress.
More than 24,000 voter registration booths had been set up since September, and more than 9 million Beijingers registered for the voting, accounting for more than 90 percent of qualified citizens, he said.
In order to facilitate 7 million migrant workers to vote, the city enabled those staying in Beijing for more than one year, or having resident permits, to vote in districts and townships of their current residence or working places.
According to the law, deputy candidates must be nominated by political parties, social organizations, or a minimum of 10 voters in their constituency.
Before the final vote, electoral committees will, on voters' request, arrange candidates to meet with voters to introduce themselves and answer questions, Liu said.
The elections of local people's congresses have commenced across the country and will last till next year, with more than 900 million voters at the district levels and 600 million township counterparts.