Decision of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on the Amendment of the Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Election of the Villagers’ Committee was adopted at the 25^th Session of the Standing Committee of the 15^th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on September 25, 2020 and is hereby promulgated. It shall be effective as of October 1, 2020.

Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress

September 25, 2020

 

Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Election of the Villagers’ Committee

(Adopted at the 10^th Session of the Standing Committee of the 11^th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on June 1, 1999; amended for the first time according to the Decision on the Amendment of the Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Election of the Villagers’ Committee adopted at the 14^th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12^th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on August 19, 2004; amended for the second time according to the Decision on the Amendment of Part of the Local Regulations of This Municipality adopted at the 21^st Session of the Standing Committee of the 13^th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on September 17, 2010; revised at the 13^th Session of the Standing Committee of the 14^th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on June 19, 2014; amended for the third time according to the Decision on the Amendment of the Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Election of the Villagers’ Committee adopted at the 25^th Session of the Standing Committee of the 15^th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on September 25, 2020)

Article 1

With a view to standardizing the work of electing villagers’ committees and ensuring that villagers exercise democratic rights according to law, these Procedures are formulated in accordance with the Organic Law of the Villagers’ Committees of the People’s Republic of China and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.

Article 2

The villagers’ committee shall be composed of three to seven members, including a director, a deputy director and members, and the specific number of posts shall be decided on at the meeting of villagers or their representatives.

The director, deputy director and members of the villagers’ committee shall be directly elected by villagers who have registered themselves as voters. No organization or individual shall designate, appoint or dismiss and replace a village committee member.

A village committee shall have women members. There shall be no husband and wife or immediate family among the village committee members.

Article 3

All villagers aged 18 and above, regardless of nationality, race, sex, occupation, family background, religion, education, financial status or length of residence, shall have the right to vote and to be elected, with the exception of those deprived of their political rights in accordance with the law.

Article 4

The CPC rural grass-roots organizations shall play their leading role in the election of villagers’ committees and shall support and guarantee the election of members for a new term of office of villagers’ committees in accordance with the law.

Article 5

The villagers’ committee is elected for a term of five years and the election for a new term shall be held in a timely manner upon the expiration of each term. A village committee member may be re-elected for a new term.

For failure to hold the election for a new term on time, the villagers’ committee shall put forward the reasons for delay as well as the extension period, and the election may be put off with the agreement made at the meeting of villagers or their representatives, the review of the town/township people’s government and the approval of the district people’s government. The district civil affairs department shall report the deferred election to the municipal civil affairs department for filing.

Elections for a new term of villagers’ committees shall be planned in a centralized manner by the Municipal People’s Government. The district people’s governments shall set up leading groups of election to direct the election for a new term of the villagers’ committees within their respective administrative areas.

The municipal and district civil affairs departments are responsible for guiding the election for a new term of villagers’ committees.

Article 6

During the election for a new term of villagers’ committees, the town/township people’s governments shall set up guiding groups of election to direct and help the work of villagers’ election committees and perform the following duties:

1. to make a plan for the election for a new term of villagers’ committees within the town/township and to determine the schedule of election;

2. to publicize the relevant laws and regulations concerning the election of villagers’ committees;

3. to organize the training of poll workers;

4. to handle complaints, letters and visits in relation to election; and

5. to handle other matters in relation to the election for a new term.

Article 7

The election of a villagers’ committee shall be presided over by a villagers’ election committee. The villagers’ election committee shall be composed of a director and seven to nine members, who shall be duly representative. The members of the election committee shall be chosen by the meeting of villagers or their representatives or groups of villagers.

A member of the villagers’ election committee, nominated as a candidate for the villagers’ committee, shall resign from the election committee.

If the villagers’ election committee falls vacant for the members’ resignation or other reasons, the vacancies shall be filled in order of the original election precedence, and may also be filled through re-election.  

Article 8

The villagers’ election committee shall perform the following functions:

1. to draw up according to law a plan for election, and put it forward for discussion and approval at the meeting of villagers or their representatives;

2. to launch publicity and mobilization for the election;

3. to decide on and train the poll workers;

4. to announce the date of election, and polling place and time;

5. to organize the registration of villagers, examine their qualification for voting and publish the list of villagers who have registered as voters;

6. to organize the nomination of candidates for the villagers’ committee by villagers who have registered as voters as well as publish the list of candidates; or organize the villagers who have registered as voters to vote directly for members of the villagers’ committee;  

7. to preside over the poll, announce the result of the election and report it to the town/township people’s government for record;

8. to handle letters and visits from the masses in relation to the election;

9. to summarize the election work, and sort out and establish the election files;

10. to preside over the work transfer of the villagers’ committee; and

11. to handle other affairs in the election work.

The villagers’ election committee shall perform duties from the date of its formation up to the completion of the work transfer between the former and present villagers’ committees.

Article 9

The age of a villager with the right to vote and to be elected shall be based on the birth date recorded in the household registration, and the day a villager turns 18 shall be calculated on the basis of the date of election held in the said village.

Before the election of a villagers’ committee, the following persons shall be registered and put on the villagers’ name list for voting:

1. villagers living in this village with their household registered therein;

2. villagers living in this village with no household registered therein, but willing to participate in the election; and

3. citizens legally living in the village for one year or more, with no household registered therein, applying for participating in the election, which is approved by the meeting of villagers or their representatives.

A villager living in the village of his/her spouse without his/her household registration transferred therein and applying for participating in the election in the village of his/her spouse, or a former villager who has rights and interests in the village’s collective economy and applies for participating in the election may register with the conformation of the villagers’ election committee.  

Villagers who have registered as voters shall not participate in the villagers’ committee election in other places.

Article 10

The name list of villagers who have registered as voters shall be published by the villagers’ election committee 20 days or more before the date of election.

In case of any objections to the register, complaints shall be lodged to the villagers’ election committee within five days of the publication of the register. The villagers’ election committee shall, within three days from receiving it, handle the complaints and publish the handling result.

Article 11

The members of the villagers’ committee shall be directly elected out by the villagers who have registered as voters in accordance with the provisions of the Organic Law of the Villagers’ Committees of the People’s Republic of China, and the specific method shall be decided in the meeting of villagers or their representatives.

Article 12

Villagers who have registered as voters directly nominate candidates for the director, deputy director and members of the villagers’ committee through voting, and candidates with more votes shall become regular candidates.

The name list of the regular candidates for the villagers’ committee shall be published five days or more before the date of election, with their names arranged in order of the vote. The number of the regular candidates for the director and deputy director of villagers’ committee shall be one more than the due number respectively. The number of the regular candidates for members of the villagers’ committee shall be one to three more than the due number, and the specific differences in number shall be decided on by the villagers’ election committee in drawing up the plan for election.

Article 13

The villagers’ election committee shall, on the principle of “openness, fairness and impartiality”, help villagers to acquaint themselves with the candidates, organize meetings between the regular candidates and the villagers, and arrange for the regular candidates to introduce their tentative plan of performing duties and answer questions raised by villagers. However, no recommendation of candidates shall be done on the date of election.

Article 14

The villagers’ election committee shall fulfill the following preparations before the date of election:

1. to decide on the scrutineer(s) and the poll workers who distribute, announce, count ballots and write for others;           

2. to announce the time of balloting and have ballot papers printed;

3. to set up the election meeting place and polling stations;

4. to check on the voting proxies of villagers who have registered as voters; and

5. other matters in relation to the election.

The regular candidates for the villagers’ committee and their spouses or other immediate family members shall not act as scrutineers, distributors, announcer or counter of ballots, nor shall they write ballots for others.

Article 15

The election of the villagers’ committee shall be held by secret ballot. Villagers who have registered as voters may elect the director, deputy director(s) and members by one voting, or by voting separately. The director and deputy director(s) shall not be chosen by the elected committee members.

In the interests of all villagers, the villagers who have registered as voters shall elect the persons who abide by law, behave well, are decent, upright, and readily dedicated to public welfare and have good health and a certain level of education and work ability to be members of the villagers’ committee.

Article 16

If villagers who have registered as voters are not able to vote because of being on outgoing trips or for other special reasons, they may entrust in writing their near relations with the right to vote on their behalf. Each villager who has registered as voters may stand proxy for not more than three persons. Villagers who stand proxy shall not entrust others to vote by proxy.

The principal or proxy shall go through the voting proxy formality at the villagers’ election committee five days before the election, and upon examination, the latter shall issue the voting proxy certificate, and also make public the name list of principals and proxies at the place of villagers’ election committee and villagers’ groups. Impromptu proxy on the site shall be prohibited.

Article 17

Secret ballot-writing booths and public ballot-writing desks shall be established at the election meeting place and polling stations. The illiterate or disabled who cannot write ballots may entrust those whom they trust to write ballots on their behalf.

Villagers who have registered as voters may vote for or against the candidates for the villagers’ committee, or vote for others, or abstain from voting.

Article 18

At the end of the election, the poll workers at the polling stations shall forthwith send the ballot boxes to the election meeting place to open the ballot boxes in a unified manner, and announce and count the ballots in public. The election results shall be announced by the villagers’ election committee to the villagers then and there.

Article 19

The election of the villagers’ committee is deemed valid if half or more of the villagers who have registered as voters cast votes. The election is valid if the ballot is equal to or smaller than the number of voters; the election is invalid if the ballot is greater than the number of the voters.

A ballot paper is valid if the number of the candidates elected on the paper is equal to or smaller than the due number and otherwise it is a spoilt vote if the number of the candidates elected on the paper is greater than the due number.

Article 20

Candidates get elected only if the number of the affirmative votes they get is half the number or more of the voting villagers.

If the number of the candidates whose affirmative votes are half the number or more of the voting villagers exceeds the due number, those who get more affirmative votes get elected. If candidates get the equal vote and it is impossible to determine who get elected, voting shall be held again for those candidates who get the equal vote. Those who get more votes shall get elected.

Article 21

If the number of the villagers’ committee members-elect does not reach the due number and if reaching three, the meeting of villagers or their representatives may decide whether to let the deficiency stand for the time being; if the number of the members-elect is less than three, another voting for the deficiency shall be held within 30 days. When another voting is held, the name list of the candidates shall be determined on the deficiency in order of the affirmative vote they get at the first voting. Candidates who get more affirmative votes get elected, but the affirmative vote they get shall not be less than one-third of all votes.

If the post of the villagers’ committee director is vacant, the deputy director-elect with the most vote shall temporarily preside over the work; if both posts of director and deputy director(s) are vacant, the villagers’ committee member with the most vote shall temporarily preside over the committee, and if the members with the same vote, the meeting of villagers or their representatives shall determine a villagers’ committee member to temporarily preside over the committee.

Article 22

The villagers’ election committee shall report election results to the town/township people’s government and issue certificates to the director, deputy director(s) and members elect of the villagers’ committee.

Article 23

All the ballots for the candidates of the villager’s committee shall be sealed for keeping in a timely manner at the end of the election day and be submitted to the town/township people’s government for keeping at least until the end of next-term villagers’ committee election.

Article 24

On the day when the new-term villagers’ committee comes into being, the old villagers’ committee shall hand over the official seal to the new-term villagers’ committee, and shall complete the handing-over of public properties, accounts of finance, proof of credit and debt and materials and archives of the villagers’ committee within 10 working days. The work transfer shall be held by the villagers’ election committee and supervised by the town/township people’s government. In case of failure to make transfer within the time limit, the town/township people’s government shall supervise and urge the transfer. If failure to make transfer causes property loss of the village collective or villagers, the relevant person responsible shall be liable for compensation according to law.

Article 25

The villagers’ committee and its members shall abide by the constitution, laws, regulations, and national policies, be impartial and honest in performing official duties, and serve the villagers with enthusiasm.

The villagers’ committee and its members shall accept the supervision by the villagers and village affairs supervision bodies.

Article 26

In case of any one of the following situations, the post of a villagers’ committee member shall be terminated automatically:

1. to be dead;

2. to be incapable;

3. to be given criminal punishment; or

4. to be deemed by democratic appraisal as unqualified for two consecutive times.

If the post of a villagers’ committee member is automatically terminated, the villagers’ committee shall call the meeting of villagers or their representatives to announce the termination and report to the town/township people’s government for filing. If the villagers’ committee fails to do so, the village affairs supervision body shall call the meeting of villagers or their representatives to make announcement and report to the town/township people’s government for filing.

Article 27

One-fifth or more of the villagers with the right to vote or one-third or more of the villagers’ representatives may jointly demand to recall a villagers’ committee member.

In case of any one of the following situations, the town/township people’s government may propose to the villagers’ committee to recall a villagers’ committee member:  

1. to fail to perform duties for three executive months or more;

2. to violate laws and regulations, causing significant casualties or collective economic losses ; or

3. to misuse powers, seek personal gain, or damage collective economic interests, causing villagers’ severe dissatisfaction.

The demand or proposal for recall shall be accompanied by reason(s) for recall. The villagers’ committee member to be recalled shall have the right to defend himself/herself. The villagers’ committee shall call a meeting of villagers to take a vote within 30 days of receipt of a demand or proposal for recall. The recall of a villagers’ committee member shall have votes by half or more of the villagers who have registered as voters and shall be passed by more than half of the voters.

If the villagers’ committee does not call a meeting of villagers within the time limit to take a vote on the demand or proposal for recall, the town/township people’s government shall order to make correction; if failing to make the correction within the prescribed time limit, the town/township people’s government may call a meeting of villagers to take a vote on the demand or proposal for recall.

Article 28

Demand to resign by a villagers’ committee member shall be made in writing to, and decided through discussion at, the meeting of villagers or their representatives.

Article 29

If a post of villagers’ committee member becomes vacant, and the villagers’ committee members are three or more in number, a by-election is not necessary with the consent of the meeting of the representatives of villagers; if the villagers’ committee members are less than three in number, a by-election shall be carried out at the meeting of villagers or their representatives within three months.

For a by-election of a villagers’ committee member, the villagers’ committee shall report in advance to the town/township people’s government and the procedures thereof shall refer to the provisions of these Procedures. The term of the member thus elected expires at the same time as the expiration of the term of the present villagers’ committee.

Article 30

Villagers have the right to report to the town/township people’s congress and government or to the standing committee of the district people’s congress and people’s government and its relevant competent departments on any of the following acts; the relevant organs shall be responsible for investigation and handling according to law and give punishments to the person(s) directly liable; those in violation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Public Security Administration and Imposition of Punishment shall be penalized by the public security department; and if the act constitutes a crime, the wrongdoer shall be prosecuted for criminal liability according to law:

1. to prevent villagers from exercising the right to vote and to be elected, and to sabotage the election of the villagers’ committee by improper means such as violence, threat, cheat, bribery,  forgery of ballot papers and falsification of vote count;

2. to designate, appoint or dismiss and replace members of the villagers’ committee;

3. to suppress or avenge oneself on the villagers who inform against illegal activities in the election of the villagers’ committee, or who request to recall any villagers’ committee member; or

4. other acts which sabotage the election of the villagers’ committee.

Article 31

Any villager who has objections to the election procedures or to the election results may lodge complaints to the district people’s government or the town/township people’s government. The district people’s government or the township people’s government shall investigate and handle the case promptly.

Article 32

If there is difficulty in funding the villagers’ committee election, the town/township people’s government shall give appropriate subsidies.

The working fund for guiding villagers’ committee election by the municipal and district civil affairs department shall be allocated by the public finance at the same level.

Article 33

The district people’s congress and its standing committee as well as the town/township people’s congress shall supervise and check the election of villagers’ committees, guarantee the implementation of these Procedures within the corresponding administrative area and ensure the villagers exercise their autonomous rights.

Article 34

These Procedures shall be effective as of October 1, 2014.