Chapter VI Registration of Voters

　　Article 26 The registration of voters shall be conducted on the basis of electoral districts， and the voters' qualifications confirmed through registration shall have long-term validity. Prior to each election， voters who have reached the age of l8 since the last registration of voters or who have had their political rights restored after a period of deprivation of political rights has expired， shall be registered. Voters who have moved out of the electoral districts where they originally registered shall be included in the roll of voters in the electoral districts to which they have newly moved； those who are deceased or have been deprived of political rights according to law shall be removed from the roll.

　　Citizens who suffer from mental illness and are incapable of exercising their electoral rights shall， upon determination by the election committee， not be included in the roll of voters.

　　Article 27 The roll of voters shall be made public 20 days prior to the date of election， and voter registration cards shall be issued. where voters take part in elections and cast their votes on the strength of their voter registration cards， they shall be issued voter registration cards.

　　Article 28 Anyone who has an objection to the roll of voters may appeal to the election committee. The election committee shall make a decision on the appeal within three days. If the appellant is not satisfied with the decision， he may bring a suit in the people's court at least five days prior to the date of election， and the people's court shall make a judgment before the date of election. The judgment of the people's court shall be final.

　　Chapter Ⅶ Nomination of Candidates for Deputies

　　Article 29 Candidates for deputies to the national and local people's congresses shall be nominated on the basis of electoral districts or electoral units.

　　Political parties and people's organizations may either jointly or separately recommend candidates for deputies. A joint group of at least ten voters or deputies may also recommend candidates. Those who submit recommendations shall inform the election committee or the presidium of the congress of their candidates' backgrounds.

　　Article 30 The number of candidates for deputies to the national and local people's congresses shall be greater than the number of deputies to be elected.

　　The number of candidates for deputies to be directly elected by the voters shall be from one third to 100 percent greater than the number of deputies to be elected； the number of candidates for deputies to be elected by various local people's congresses to the people's congresses at the next higher level shall be 20 to 50 percent greater than the number of deputies to be elected.

　　Article 31 Candidates for deputies to the people's congresses to be directly elected by the voters shall be nominated by the voters in the various electoral districts and by the various political parties and people's organizations. The election committee shall collect and publish， l5 days prior to the date of election， the list of nominees for deputies for repeated deliberation， discussion and consultation by voter groups in the respective electoral districts and shall decide， in accordance with the opinion of the majority of voters， upon a formal list of candidates to be made public five days prior to the date of election.

　　When a local people's congress at or above the county level is to elect deputies to a people's congress at the next higher level， the time for nominating and deliberating candidates for such deputies shall not be less than two days. The presidium of the people's congress at the said level shall print and distribute the list of the candidates nominated according to law to all the deputies for deliberation and discussion. If the number of the nominees conforms to the proportion for competitive election as provided in Article 30 of this Law， balloting competitive election shall be held directly. If the number of the nominees exceeds the maximum proportion for competitive election as provided by Article 30 of this Law， preliminary election shall be held. By the order of the number of votes that the nominees have obtained in the preliminary election， a formal list of candidates shall be determined in agreement with the specific proportion for competitive election as it contained in the measures of election adopted by the people's congress at that level in accordance with this Law， and then balloting shall be held.

　　Article 32 When a local people's congress at or above the county level is to elect deputies to the people's congress at the next higher level， the nominees for deputies shall not be limited to the current deputies to the lower people's congress.

　　Article 33 The election committee or the presidium of the people's congress shall brief voters or deputies on the candidates for deputies. Political parties， people's organizations， voters and deputies that have nominated candidates for deputies may brief voters on those candidates at group meetings of voters or deputies. However， such briefings must stop on the day of election.

　　Chapter Ⅷ Election Procedure

　　Article 34 where voters directly elect deputies to a people's congress， they shall， as prescribed by the election committee， be issued ballots on the strength of their identification cards or voter registration cards. In each electoral district， polling stations shall be set up， mobile polling boxes provided or election meetings held for the election. Balloting shall be presided over by the election committee.

　　Article 35 where a local people's congress at or above the county level is to elect deputies to the people's congress at the next higher level， the election shall be presided over by the presidium of the lower people's congress.

　　Article 36 The election of deputies to the national and local people's congresses shall be by secret ballot.

　　If a voter is illiterate or handicapped and is therefore unable to write his ballot， he may entrust another person to write it for him.

　　Article 37 A voter may vote for or against a candidate for deputy and may vote instead for any other voter or abstain.

　　Article 38 A voter who is absent from his electoral district during the time of an election may， with the approval of the election committee and by written authorization， entrust another voter with a proxy vote. A voter shall not stand proxy for more than three persons.

　　Article 39 When balloting has been concluded， scrutineers and vote- counters elected by the voters or deputies， and members of the election committee or members of the presidium of the people's congress shall check the number of people who voted against the number of votes cast and make a record of it， the record shall be signed by the scrutineers.

　　Article 40 An election shall be null and void if the number of votes cast is greater than the number of people who voted， and it shall be valid if the number of votes cast is less than the number of people who voted.

　　A ballot shall be null and void if more candidates are voted for than the number of deputies to be elected， and it shall be valid if fewer candidates are voted for than the number of deputies to be elected.

　　Article 41 In a direct election of deputies to the people's congresses， the election shall be valid， if more than half of all the voters in an electoral district cast their votes. Candidates for deputies shall be elected only if they have obtained more than half of the votes cast by the voters that take part in the election.

　　When a local people's congress at or above the county level is to elect deputies to a people's congress at the next higher level， candidates for deputies shall be elected only if they have obtained more than half of the votes of all the deputies.

　　where the number of candidates who have obtained more than half of the votes exceeds the number of deputies to be elected， the ones who have obtained more votes shall be elected. where the number of votes for some candidates is tied， making it impossible to determine the ones to be elected， another balloting shall be conducted for these candidates to resolve the tie， and the ones who have obtained more votes shall be elected.

　　If the number of elected deputies who have obtained more than half of the votes is less than the number of deputies to be elected， another election shall be held to make up the difference. When another election is held， the name list of candidates shall， by order of the number of votes they have obtained in the first balloting， be determined in accordance with the proportion for competitive election as provided in Article 30 of this Law. If only one deputy is to be elected， the number of candidates shall be two.

　　When another election is held to elect deputies to the people's congress at the county or township level in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph， the candidates Who have obtained more votes than the others shall be elected； however， the number of the votes they have obtained shall not be less than one-third of the votes cast. When another election is held by the local people's congress at or above the county level to elect deputies to the people's congress at the next higher level， the candidates shall be elected only when