HANOI, May 23 (NNN-VNA) – Over 69 million voters across Vietnam are casting their votes today, to elect deputies to the country’s National Assembly (NA) and members of People’s Councils at all levels.
Held every five years, the election this year, started at 7.00 a.m. local time, at around 80,000 polling stations nationwide.
A total of 866 candidates are vying for 500 seats, at the 15th NA, and 3,726 deputies will be selected from 6,199 candidates, to enter provincial-level People’s Councils, with also 22,952 deputies, to district-level People’s Councils and 242,312 deputies to commune-level People’s Councils, according to Vietnam’s National Election Council.
The election this year takes place amid the complicated development of COVID-19. Authorities asked voters to strictly follow COVID-19 prevention and control protocols, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing at polling stations.
All voters’ entry time should be recorded to be used for contact-tracing, if a positive case or a suspected case of COVID-19 is detected.
Special ballot boxes were brought to hospitals, quarantine facilities and lockdown areas, to ensure people’s voting rights, according to the election council. The boxes would be disinfected, and marked as potentially hazardous, to warn of infection risks and kept separately.
The results of the election are expected to be revealed within 20 days, according to a press release by the election council. The election is scheduled to be concluded at 7.00 p.m. local time today.
As of this morning, Vietnam reported a total of 5,119 cases of COVID-19 infections and 42 deaths, with 2,066 locally transmitted cases and seven deaths recorded, since the start of the latest outbreak in late Apr.
The final session of the 14th NA replaced several top leadership positions of the country. On Mar 31, Vuong Dinh Hue was elected the new NA chairman, before Nguyen Xuan Phuc was elected the new state president and Pham Minh Chinh became the country’s new prime minister, on April 5.
