Electoral Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses of the PRC

The People's Republic of China has promulgated two electoral laws for the People's Congress successively. The first one is the “Electoral Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses of the PRC”, which was deliberated and adopted by the Council of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China in February 1953.

The second one is the current “Electoral Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses of the PRC”, which was deliberated and adopted by the Second Session of the Fifth National People's Congress in July 1979. It has been put into effect since January 1, 1980, and was amended six times in 1982, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2010 and 2015. On the basis of the electoral principles and basic framework established by the Constitution, the Electoral Law provides specific and detailed legal provisions on the electoral system of the People's Congresses at all levels.

It includes 12 Chapters, 59 Articles, which provides the principles for electing deputies to the people's congresses, the electoral institutions and their duties for deputies to the people's congresses at all levels, the allocation of the number of deputies to the people's congresses at all levels, the elections in ethnic minority regions, the division of electoral districts, the procedures for registration of voters and elections, the rules for supervision, recalling and resignation of the elected deputies and sanctions against the severe disruption of elections, are the stipulations of the basic law in respect to people's congresses system of China.