Direct elections People's congresses of
counties (),
city districts (),
towns (),
townships (), and
ethnic townships (), are
directly elected. The representative of these districts then elect the members of the People's Congress for the next administrative level: in most cases this would be the
prefecture-level city. There are a few cities which are not divided into lower-level districts () and as such the city-wide Peoples' Congress is directly elected. Additionally,
village () committee members and chairpersons are directly elected.
Local People's Congresses ,
Guangdong. April 11, 2014. Under the electoral law of 1 July 1979, nomination of candidates for direct local elections (in counties, townships, etc.) can be made by the CCP, the
various other political parties, mass organizations, or any voter
seconded by at least 10 other voters. The final list of electoral candidates must be worked out through "discussion and consultation" or primary elections, which officially is conducted by an election committee in consultation with small groups of voters; Election committee members are appointed by the standing committees of the people's congresses at the corresponding level. The number of candidates for a direct election should be 1.3 to 2 times the number of deputies to be elected. • direct nomination and election () • direction election () • two ballots in three rounds () • competition based on mass recommendation () • nomination and election by the masses ( or ; literally "sea election") • public recommendation and public election () • vote of confidence ()
Village chiefs After taking power in 1978,
Deng Xiaoping experimented with
direct democracy at the local level. Villages have been traditionally the lowest level of government in China's complicated hierarchy of governance. Under the
Organic Law of Village Committees, all of China's approximately 1 million villages are expected to hold competitive, direct elections for sub-governmental village committees. A 1998 revision to the law called for improvements in the nominating process and enhanced transparency in village committee administration. The revised law also explicitly transferred the power to nominate candidates to villagers themselves, as opposed to village groups or CCP branches. Many have criticized the locally elected representatives as serving as "rubber stamps", with the local CCP secretaries still holding the ultimate power, though during some eras the Communists have flirted with the idea of potentially allowing some competition. Many of these multi-candidate elections were successful, involving candidate debates, formal platforms, and the initiation of secret ballot boxes. Initial reforms did not include universal suffrage. Such an election comprises usually no more than 2000 voters, and the
first-past-the-post system is used in determining the winner, with no restriction on political affiliation. The elections, initially held every three years but later changed to five, Since 2018, the central authorities in the CCP officially called for the
yijiantiao () model, in which the village committees and the CCP village committees to have the same membership, with both led by the CCP village committee secretary.
Indirect elections People's Congresses of
provinces (),
directly administered municipalities (), and cities divided into districts () are
indirectly elected by the People's Congress of the level immediately below. Presidents of people's courts and the regional prosecutors general of people's procuratorates are elected by the respective local People's Congresses above the county level. Generally, seats are
apportioned to each electoral district in proportion to their population, though the system for apportioning seats for Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the
People's Liberation Army differ. No electoral district may be apportioned fewer than 15 seats in the NPC. The NPC elects and appoints the following personnel: •
President of the People's Republic of China •
Vice President of the People's Republic of China •
Chairperson of the Central Military Commission (PRC) • Director of the
National Supervisory Commission •
President of the Supreme People's Court •
Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate The NPC also appoints the
premier of the State Council based on the president's nomination, other members of the State Council based on the premier's nomination, and other members of the Central Military Commission based on the CMC chair's nomination. == Party control ==