Explanation on draft amendments to electoral law

III. Main Contents of the Draft Amendments to the Electoral Law

1. Electing deputies to the people's congresses based on the same population ratio in urban and rural areas

In accordance with China's state system and political structure, the following principles and requirements shall be reflected in electing deputies to the people's congresses based on the same population ratio in both urban and rural areas. One, to guarantee the equal right of all citizens to vote. Electing deputies based on the same population ratio in urban and rural areas reflects equality among people. Two, to guarantee the equal right of all localities to participate in the organs of state power. Every administrative area, regardless of the size of its population, should have the same base number of deputies and be able to elect a fixed number of deputies to reflect equality among regions. Three, to guarantee an appropriate number of deputies for every ethnic group. Ethnic groups with the smallest populations must also have one deputy in order to reflect equality among ethnic groups. These "three equalities" are intrinsic requirements of China's state system and political structure and are an organically integrated whole. We cannot emphasize anyone of them while ignoring the other two. Furthermore, appropriate consideration should be given to those regions where representative figures in all sectors of society are relatively concentrated.

In view of the above, we propose that the provisions in Article 16 of the Electoral Law on the allocation of the number of deputies to the NPC be revised to read, "The number of deputies to the National People's Congress shall be allocated by its Standing Committee on the basis of the population of each province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the central government, and in accordance with the principle that each deputy represents the same number of urban or rural people and the requirement guaranteeing an appropriate number of deputies for every region, ethnic group and sector of society." "The number of deputies to the National People's Congress to be elected from a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government shall be determined by the size of its population, the base number which is the same for every region, and the number of deputies that should be elected for other reasons." "The specific allocated number of deputies to the National People's Congress shall be decided by its Standing Committee." (Article 6 of the draft amendments)

Articles 12, 13 and 14, which prescribe the allocated number of deputies to the local people's congresses, are merged as one article and are revised to read, "The number of deputies to local people's congresses shall be allocated by the standing committees of people's congresses or the election committees at the same level on the basis of the populations of the administrative areas at the next lower level or the populations of the electoral districts in their own administrative areas and in accordance with the principle that each deputy represents the same number of urban or rural people and the requirement guaranteeing an appropriate number of deputies for every region, ethnic group and sector of society. In people's congresses of counties and autonomous counties, there shall be at least one deputy representing townships, ethnic minority townships, or towns with an exceptionally small population." "The measures for allocating the number of deputies to the local people's congresses shall be formulated respectively by the standing committees of people's congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government according to the measures for allocating the number of deputies to the National People's Congress and based on their specific local conditions."(Article 5 of the draft amendments)

The provisions of Article 25 on the number of people represented by each deputy directly elected from an electoral district, is revised to read, "The number of people represented by each deputy from an electoral district in a given administrative area shall generally be the same." (Article 7 of the draft amendments)

It should be explained here that a two step solution has been taken to solve the problem of allocating the number of deputies to the NPC, which is related to electing deputies to people's congresses based on the same population ratio in urban and rural areas. The first step is to concentrate efforts, and amend and improve the Electoral Law well. The second step is, after amendments to the Electoral Law are completed, to scientifically and rationally allocate the number of deputies to the NPC according to the principles determined by the Electoral Law, on the basis of widely solicited opinions, after overall consideration, and as decided by the NPC Standing Committee.