(Adopted at the 25th Session of the Standing Committee of the 8th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on January 8, 1987; amended for the first time according to the Decision on Amending the Implementation Rules of Shanghai Municipality for Direct Election of Representatives of District/County and Town/Township People’s Congresses adopted at the 12th Session of the Standing Committee of the 9th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on November 18, 1989; amended for the second time according to the Decision on Amending the Implementation Rules of Shanghai Municipality for Direct Election of Representatives of District/County and Town/Township People’s Congresses adopted at the 35th Session of the Standing Committee of the 9th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on August 19, 1992; amended for the third time according to the Decision on Amending the Implementation Rules of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress for Direct Election of Representatives of District/County and Town/Township People’s Congresses adopted at the 20th Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th

Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on August 23, 1995; amended for the fourth time according to the Decision on Amending the Implementation Rules of Shanghai Municipality for Direct Election of Representatives of District/County and Town/Township People’s Congresses adopted at the 25th Session of the 12th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on December 29, 2005; and revised at the 26th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on April 12, 2011; amended for the fifth time according to the Decision on Revising Five Local Rules Including the Implementation Rules of Shanghai Municipality for Direct Election of Representatives of District/County and Town/Township People’s Congresses adopted at the 28th

Session of the Standing Committee f the 14th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on April 21, 2016; amended for the sixth time according to the Decision on Amending the Implementation Rules of Shanghai Municipality for Direct Election of Representatives of District/County and Town/Township People’s Congresses adopted at the 30th Session of the Standing Committee of the 15th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on March 24, 2021)

Chapter I  General Provisions

Article 1 These Implementation Rules are formulated in accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Election of Representatives of the National People’s Congress and Local People’s Congresses (hereinafter referred to as the Election Law), the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Organization of Local People’s Congresses and Local People’s Governments, and the Provisions of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Direct Election of Representatives of People’s Congresses at or Below the County Level, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.

Article 2 This Municipality’s election of representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses shall adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the principal of fully promoting democracy and ruling by law.

Article 3 All citizens of the People’s Republic of China that are 18 years old or older, regardless of their nationality, race, gender, occupation, family background, religious belief, educational background, financial status and length of residence, have the rights to elect and to be elected.

A person whose political rights are deprived of according to law has no right to elect or to be elected.

Article 4 A voter has the right to one vote only in each election.

Article 5 The election of representatives of district people’s congresses by troops of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army stationed in Shanghai shall be carried out according to the Procedures for the Election of Representatives of the National People’s Congress and Local People’s Congresses above the County Level by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

Article 6 Representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses shall be representative of the broad section of their constituencies. A proper number of them shall come from the grass-roots, especially workers, peasants and intellectuals; a proper number of them shall come from women, and the proportion of women representatives shall be increased step by step.

Article 7 The expenditures for election of district and town/township people’s congresses shall be listed in the government budget and be paid by the state treasury.

Chapter II  Electoral Body

Article 8 During the election of representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses at the expiration of office terms, this Municipality establishes a District and Town/Township Election Working Committee, and the districts and towns/townships establish their respective election committees.

The District and Town/Township Election Working Committee established by the Municipality shall, under the leadership of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People’s Congress, guide the election of representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses, and may put forward specific opinions for carrying out the election work according to these Implementation Rules. An office shall be established under each of the District and Town/Township Election Working Committees.

The election committee established by a district shall, under the leadership of the standing committee of the district people’s congress, preside over the election of representatives of the district people’s congress and guide the election of representatives of the town/township people’s congresses. A district election committee shall be made up of 15 to 29 persons, with the participation of persons from all political parties and mass organizations, as well as relevant competent departments. The members of a district election committee shall be appointed by the standing committee of the district people’s congress. An office shall be established under a district election committee to execute the specific work of the election. The office shall be composed of relevant staff of the working body of the standing committee of the people’s congress and staff of the civil affairs and public security departments.

The election committee established by a town/township shall, under the leadership of the standing committee of the district people’s congress, preside over the election of representatives of the people’s congress of the same level. A town/township election committee shall be made up of 9 to 13 members, who shall be appointed by the standing committee of the district people’s congress. A working agency shall be established under a town/township election committee.

When a member of an election committee becomes a representative candidate, he/she shall resign their post in the election committee.

Article 9 District and town/township election committees shall perform the following functions and duties:

1. formulate a working plan for election of representatives of the people’s congress of the same level;

2. divide the district or town/township into electoral precincts for the election of representatives of the people’s congress of the same level, and allocate the quota of representatives to be elected in each electoral precinct;

3. publicize relevant laws and regulations of election, and train the working personnel for election;

4. register the voters, examine their qualifications and publicize a list of their names; accept and deal with petitions concerning the list of voter names, and make a decision thereon;

5. fix the election date;

6. put together and publicize the list of representative candidates, gather and verify their information and make known their information to the voters; decide upon and publicize the official list of representative candidates according to the opinion of the majority of voters;

7. assign staff to preside over the voting;

8. decide on whether the election result is valid or not, and publicize the list of elected representatives;

9. accept and deal with the reports and charges of illegal acts in the election; and

10. other functions and duties provided by laws and rules.

Election committees shall publicize information concerning the election in a timely manner.

Article 10 During the election of representatives of district people’s congresses, sub-districts, towns/townships, enterprises, public institutions, or relevant competent departments may, upon the approval of the district election committees, set up election working groups of 5 to 13 members, which function as agencies of the district election committee and be responsible for election in the precincts under their jurisdiction. The precincts shall establish election sub-working groups comprised of members from relevant units, which shall be responsible for election in the precincts under their jurisdiction. The election sub-working groups shall be approved by the election working group authorized by the district election committee and filed with the district election committee.

During the election of representatives of town/township people’s congresses, villagers’ committees, neighborhood committees, enterprises and public institutions may, upon the approval of the town/township election committees, set up election sub-working groups of three to five members, to take responsibility for the election in the precincts under their jurisdiction.

Chapter III  Quota and Distribution of Representatives

Article 11 The base quota of representatives of the district people’s congress is 140, to which one representative is added for every 5,000 more people, and for a district with a population of 1.55 million or more, the total quota of representatives shall not exceed 450; the base quota of representatives of the town/township people’s congress is 45, to which one representative is added for every 1,500 more people, but the total quota of representatives shall not exceed 160. The total of the base quota of representatives plus the number of representatives added in proportion to the population is the total quota of representatives of the district or town/township people’s congress.

The specific quota of representatives of district people’s congresses shall be determined by the standing committee of the Municipal People’s Congress according to the Election Law, and shall be filed with the standing committee of the National People’s Congress. The specific quota of town/township people’s congresses shall be determined by the standing committee of the district people’s congress, and shall be filed with the standing committee of the Municipal People’s Congress.

Once determined, the total quota of representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses shall not be altered. If a fairly big change in the population occurs due to alteration of administrative areas or due to major construction projects, the total quota of representatives of the people’s congress at the same level shall be re-determined in accordance with the provisions of the Election Law.

Article 12 The quota of representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses shall be allocated by the district and town/township election committees based on the population of each electoral precinct in accordance with the principle that each representative represents the same number of urban/rural population. In general, villages with a very small population shall still have representatives to the town/township people’s congress.

Article 13 The quota of representatives of troops of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army stationed in Shanghai shall be determined by the standing committee of the local district people’s congress through consultation with the relevant leading organs of the troops stationed in Shanghai and the people’s armed forces department according to the organizational system or the strength of the stationed troops.

Chapter IV  Electoral Districting

Article 14 The quota of representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses shall be allocated to electoral precincts, and elections shall be held in electoral precincts. Electoral districting shall facilitate voters’ participation in the election activities and the organizational work of election, as well make it easier for voters to get to know the representatives, and for the representatives to connect with the voters and subject themselves to voter supervision.

Article 15 The size of an electoral precinct shall be so determined that one to three representatives shall be elected in each precinct.

The population represented by each representative from the electoral precincts within this administrative area shall be approximately the same.

Article 16 Electoral districting may be set according to the distribution of residents or in the light of existing units.

Government organs, mass organizations, enterprises and public institutions, which shall elect one representative or more, may be divided into one or more independent electoral precincts; government organs, mass organizations, enterprises and public institutions with a small population of voters may be put into a joint electoral precinct, or may be put together with local neighborhood committees or villagers’ committees to form a mixed electoral precinct.

Article 17 The employees of units attached to the district located in the town/township administrative areas shall participate in the election of representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses; the employees of units attached to the Central People’s Government or to the Municipality shall participate in the election of representatives of the district people’s congress, but not in the election of representatives of the town/township people’s congress.

Article 18 The employees of government organs, mass organizations, enterprises and public institutions attached to districts but stationed in the districts other than their own shall participate in the election of representatives of the people’s congress of their own districts.

Chapter V  Voter Registration

Article 19 All citizens of the People’s Republic of China of 18 years old or older with voter qualifications shall go through voter registration in their electoral precincts.

The date of local election shall be the criterion for deciding whether a voter has reached the age of 18 years old.

Article 20 Each voter can register for election only in one electoral precinct. Electoral precincts shall set up voter registration stations, which are responsible for voter registration:

1. Employees of government organs, mass organizations, enterprises and public institutions, as well as students at school, who have permanent residence in this Municipality, generally shall go for voter registration in their working units or schools.

2. Peasants of this Municipality shall go for voter registration in their villages or working units.

3. Residents of this Municipality who do not belong to any working units generally shall go for voter registration at their registered permanent residence. Residents of this Municipality who are away from their registered permanent residence may also go for voter registration at their current residence after obtaining voter qualification certificates.

4. Retired veteran officials generally shall go for voter registration in their original working units or their management units. They may also, at their own request, go for voter registration at their registered permanent residence or their current residence on the strength of voter qualification certificates.

5. Retired personnel generally shall go for registration at their registered permanent residence. They may also, at their own request, go for registration at their original working units or current employer units or their current residence on the strength of voter qualification certificates.

6. Personnel of all departments of the Central People’s Government as well as all agencies of the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions stationed in Shanghai shall go for voter registration in their own working units.

7. Employees of the branches or the subordinate units of government organs, mass organizations, enterprises and public institutions shall generally go for voter registration in the local districts where such branches or units are located.

8. Personnel of the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force stationed in Shanghai shall participate in the election of representatives of the local district people’s congress and shall go for voter registration in their own troop.

9. Employees with Chinese nationality working in foreign consulates in Shanghai or in foreign agencies stationed in Shanghai shall go for voter registration in the electoral precincts of the competent municipal departments.

10. Those with permanent residence not registered in this Municipality but staying in this Municipality generally shall participate in the election at their registered permanent residence; but after obtaining voter qualification certificates, they may also go for voter registration at their current residence or working unit.

11. Those now living in this Municipality with their permanent residence registration removed from their former province, municipality or autonomous region but not having their permanent residence registered yet may go for voter registration at their current residence.

12. Citizens of the People’s Republic of China who live abroad but are staying in this Municipality during the election of representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses of this Municipality may go for voter registration at their former registered permanent residence or of their residence in this Municipality before going abroad.

13. Rules regarding the voter registration of other people as well as those who are granted the voter right according to law shall be decided on by the district election committee or town/township election committee upon deliberation.

During the election of representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses at the expiration of office terms, those who have permanent residence registration in this Municipality and who have had voter registration via the municipal voter registration information management system need not go for voter qualification certificates, and their voter qualifications shall be verified and affirmed by relevant district and town/township election working agencies.

Article 21 A voter group shall generally be made up of 40 people, and the group leader shall be elected by the voters.

Article 22 Psychopaths who cannot exercise their right to vote and others incapable of action shall not be listed in the voter list provided a certificate from the hospital or approval by their guardians is obtained, and the case affirmed by the election committee.

Intermittent psychopaths shall not exercise the right to vote during a seizure provided a certificate from the hospital or approval by their guardians is obtained, and the case affirmed by the election committee.

Article 23 The exercise of voting right by those who are taken into custody and are being investigated, prosecuted, or tried for endangering the state security or for other serious criminal acts, shall, upon the decision of the People’s Procuratorate or the People’s Court, be terminated during custody. The decision to terminate the exercise of voting right shall be delivered to the district or town/township election committee five days before the election day.

Article 24 The following persons shall be granted the right to vote according to law:

1. those who are sentenced to a set term of imprisonment, detention, or restraint of personal freedom, but without being deprived of political rights as a supplementary punishment;

2. those who are taken into custody and are being investigated, prosecuted, or tried, but the People’s Procuratorate or the People’s Court has not decided to terminate their right to vote;

3.those who are on bail pending trial or are subject to surveillance of residence; and

4. those who are being punished by detention.

Article 25 The list of voters shall be made public 20 days before the election day. After the publication of such list, any changes to it shall be made, and the list rectified and re-publicized two days before the election day.

Article 26 Those who disagree on the publicized list of voters may lodge a complaint to the election committee within five days upon its publication, and the election committee shall handle the complaint within three days. If the complainer does not accept the decision of the election committee, he/she may file a lawsuit to the local district people’s court five days before the election day, and the latter shall give a verdict before the election day. The verdict of the district people’s court shall be the final decision.

Article 27 Voters shall participate in the election of representatives of district or town/township people’s congress on the strength of their voter certificate. The voter certificate shall be made and issued by the district or town/township election committee.

Chapter VI  Nomination of Candidates for Representatives

Article 28 Candidates for representatives shall be nominated from the electoral precincts after the publication of the voter list.

Article 29 Candidates for representatives shall be nominated in accordance with the following procedures:

1. All political parties and mass organizations may recommend candidates for representatives jointly or independently to the election committee, which shall refer the recommendations to relevant electoral precincts; the candidates recommended for representatives shall participate in the election of relevant electoral precincts. The total number of candidates recommended for representatives jointly or independently by political parties and mass organizations generally shall not exceed the total number of representatives to be elected to the people’s congress at the same level by 20 percent; and

2. 10 voters or more may jointly recommend candidates for representatives, but the number of candidates for representatives recommended jointly by each voter with others shall not exceed the total of representatives to be elected in their own electoral precinct.

Recommenders shall present to the election committee truthful information of candidates they recommend for representatives. Candidates for representatives who accept recommendation shall provide the election committee with basic information of their identity and personal history in a truthful manner. In case the basic information they provide is not truthful or in case they refuse to accept the recommendation, the election committee shall notify the voters thereof.

Article 30 Electoral bodies at all levels must put both the candidates recommended by 10 or more voters jointly for representatives and the candidates recommended by political parties and mass organizations in the list of candidates for representatives, and submit it to the higher level, without making any changes, additions or deletions. The list of candidates for representatives and their basic information collected by the election committee shall be publicized in their respective electoral precincts 15 days before the election day.

Article 31 The number of official candidates for representatives shall be one third to one time more than the number of representatives to be elected.

Article 32 After the publication of the list of candidates for representatives, a list of official candidates for representatives shall be decided on through discussions and consultations of the voter groups in the corresponding electoral precinct. In case the number of nominated candidates exceeds the highest ratio between the number of candidates and that of representatives to be elected as provided in Article 31 of these Implementation Rules, the election committee shall submit the matter to the voter groups of the electoral precinct for discussion and negotiation, and decide on the list of official candidates for representatives according to the opinion of the majority of voters; if no consensus can be reached on the official candidates for representatives, a preliminary election shall be held, and the list of official candidates for representatives shall be decided on by the number of votes they win in the preliminary election. The list of official candidates for representatives and their basic information shall be made public seven days before the election day.

Article 33 The election committee shall bring the information of the candidates for representatives to the voters. The political parties, mass organizations, or voters may present, in a truthful manner, the information regarding the candidates for representatives they recommended at the voter group meetings. The election committee shall organize meetings between the candidates for representatives and the voters, at which the candidates shall give truthful information regarding themselves and answer the voters’ questions. However, such activities shall be terminated on the election day.

Article 34 To participate in the election of representatives of district or town/township people’s congress, a citizen shall not accept directly or indirectly financial aid concerning election from institutions, organizations or individuals from outside of Mainland China.

The election committee shall decide not to list anyone in violation of the provision of the preceding clause in the list of representative candidates; if such a person has been listed in the said list, the said committee shall decide to expunge his/her name from the list; if such a person has been elected, the deputy credentials commission shall propose invalidity of his/her election, and report to the standing committee of the district people’s congress or the presidium of the town/township people’s government for determination of the invalid election.

Chapter VII  Procedures of Election

Article 35 The election of representatives to the district and town/township people’s congresses shall be held strictly according to the procedures provided by the law, and be subject to supervision. No organization or individual shall interfere in any way in the voters’ free exercise of election rights.

Article 36 When voters elect representatives to the people’s congress, the election committee shall, on the basis of voter distribution of the electoral precincts, set up a number of polling stations or hold election meetings according to the principle of facilitating the voters in casting their ballots. Voters with restricted mobility due to diseases or other special reasons may cast their vote in mobile ballot boxes. A mobile ballot box shall be made in a unified manner by the election committee, and be placed in the charge of not less than two scrutineers; the electors who cast votes in mobile ballot boxes shall be registered for record by the election committee, and sign or stamp on the registry; after the vote, the scrutineers shall seal up the ballot slot with signature.

Article 37 The voting shall generally last one to three days from the start of election.

Article 38 Voters shall go and get their ballots by producing their voter certificates. Secret ballot shall be adopted for all elections.

Article 39 The polling stations and the election meetings shall be presided over by personnel appointed by the election committee, who shall inform the voters of the matters that need attention in casting the vote. The voters shall elect the scrutineers and ballot counters before the election. Places for selecting the candidate of their choice in secret shall be set up during the election.

Candidates for representatives and their close relatives shall not preside over the ballot casting of their own electoral precincts, nor shall they work as scrutineers or ballot counters.

Article 40 Voters who cannot participate in the election for being away on business or other special reasons may, upon the approval of the election committee, entrust another voter by a written power of attorney to cast the ballot on their behalf. A voter shall not exercise the power entrusted by more than three voters and shall cast the ballot at the will of their principals.

Voters who cannot write the ballot due to illiteracy or disability may empower a person they trust to write on their behalf.

Article 41 Those who are on bail pending trial, subjected to surveillance of residence, or sentenced to restraint of personal freedom without being deprived of their political rights, shall participate in the election in the electoral precinct of their current working unit or their registered permanent residence.

Those who are sentenced to a set term of imprisonment without being deprived of their political rights as a supplementary punishment shall participate in the election in their prison.

Those who are sentenced to detention without being deprived of their political rights as a supplementary punishment, who are taken into custody and are being investigated, prosecuted, or tried, but whose rights to vote have not been terminated by the People’s Procuratorate or the People’s Court, or who are being detained as punishment, generally may entrust their relative or other voters with voting right to cast the ballot on their behalf at their original working unit or registered permanent residence; in case they do not have a relative or a voter to act on their behalf, they may cast their ballot at a mobile ballot box.

Article 42 Voters may cast their ballots for or against the candidates for representatives, or they may elect any other voter, or abstain.

Article 43 Upon completion of the voting, the scrutineer, ballot counter and the appointees by the election committee shall open the ballot box and count the ballots on the spot, check the number of voters and ballots, tally up the votes, and make record thereof, to which the scrutineer shall affix his/her signature. In exceptional cases where the ballot box cannot be opened and the ballots counted on the voting day, another date shall, with the approval of the election committee at the same level, be fixed for summoning the voter group leaders and relevant staff to open the ballot box and count the ballots.

After the counting of ballots, the electoral precincts shall make known the election results to the voters or voter group leaders, and report to them the number of voters of their own electoral precincts, the number of people who have cast their ballots, the number of valid ballots as well as the number of invalid ballots, and the number of ballots for the elected representatives and the number of ballots for the unelected.

Article 44 An election is valid only if more than half of the voters of an electoral precinct have participated in the voting. If the number of ballots cast is more than that of voters, the election is invalid; and the election is valid if the number of ballots cast is equal to or less than that of the voters. A ballot is invalid if the number of voted candidates is more than that of representatives to be elected, and a ballot is valid if the number of voted candidates is equal to or smaller than that of representatives to be elected.

Article 45 A candidate is elected only if he/she gets the votes of more than half of the voters in the election of his/her electoral precinct.

In case the number of candidates who get more than half of the votes as mentioned in the preceding clause exceeds the quota of representatives to be elected, those who get more votes win the election. In case it is impossible to determine who the winner is because of a tied vote, another vote shall be taken and whoever gets more votes shall be the winner.

In case the number of elected representatives with more than half the votes is smaller than the quota of representatives to be elected, the vacancies shall be filled by another vote, in which the list of candidates shall be determined in light of the number of votes in the first vote and in accordance with the ratio between the number of candidates and that of representatives to be elected as provided for in Article 31 of these Implementation Rules, and if only one representative is to be elected, the number of candidates shall be two. Those who get more ballots in the second vote win the election, but a candidate must get no less than one third of the total number of ballots to be elected. In case a candidate still fails to reach the quota, the vacancies shall be left unfilled temporarily.

Article 46 The election committee shall, according to the provisions of the Election Law, affirm whether the election result of each electoral precinct is valid or not and publicize the list of the elected representatives.

Article 47 The deputy credentials commission shall examine in a timely manner whether an elected representative meets the basic requirements for a representative provided by the Constitution and law, and whether an election complies with the procedures provided by law, and whether there is illegal act of disrupting the election or other invalid election, propose its opinion on whether an election is valid, and report that to the standing committee of the district people’s congress or the presidium of the town/township people’s congress.

When the deputy credentials commission has received a report of an elected representative, it shall promptly submit that to relevant department for investigation and handling according to law; if a clue for relevant problem of an elected representative is clear but still unchecked, relevant department shall continue with the investigation, the deputy credentials commission may delay in proposing its opinion on whether the election is valid or invalid.

The standing committee of the district people’s congress or the presidium of the town/township people’s congress shall confirm the representatives’ qualification or invalidity of an elected representative according to the report submitted by the deputy credentials commission, and publicize the list of representatives before the first session of each people’s congress.

Article 48 District and town/township people’s congresses shall issue representative cards to the representatives of district and town/township people’s congresses.

Article 49 A citizen shall not concurrently serve as a representative to the people’s congresses of two or more administrative areas that have no relationship of subordination.

Chapter VIII  Sanctions for Disrupting Election

Article 50 In order to protect the voters’ free exercise of their rights to elect and to be elected, anyone who commits any of the following acts to disrupt an election in violation of the provisions on public security administration shall be punished for offenses against public order; if such act constitutes a crime, the perpetrator shall be prosecuted for criminal liability according to law:

1. bribing a voter with money or other property, thus hindering a voter’s free exercise of his/her rights to elect and to be elected;

2. hindering a voter’s free exercise of his/her rights to elect and to be elected by violence, threat, deception or other illegal means;

3. forging election documents, reporting the number of ballots untruthfully or other illegal acts; or

4. suppressing or retaliating against a person who accuses or informs against those who perpetrate illegal acts in an election.

A state functionary who perpetrates any of the acts listed in the preceding Paragraph shall be given administrative sanction in addition.

If a person is elected via the illegal acts listed in Paragraph 1 of this Article, his/her election is invalid.

Article 51 If an agency presiding over an election discovers an act disrupting the election or receives a report of such acts, it shall conduct an investigation and address the matter according to law in a timely manner; if it is necessary to investigate into the legal liabilities, the case shall be transferred to relevant government organs.

Chapter IX  Supplementary Provision

Article 52 These Implementation Rules shall be effective as of May 20, 2011.