What is a referendum? Regulations on referendum voting in Vietnam

What is a referendum? Regulations on referendum voting in Vietnam

1. What is a referendum?

According to Clause 1, Article 3 of the Law on Referendums 2015, a referendum means an occasion held by the state for all the people in the country to vote on important issues of the Goverment of Vietnam.

2. Regulations on referendum voting in Vietnam

2.1. Persons eligible for casting referendum votes

The subjects eligible for casting referendum votes specified in Article 5 of the Law on Referendum 2015 are Vietnamese citizens aged from 18 and over to the time of referendum, except in the following cases:

- Persons as prisoners under death penalty, persons who serve prison sentences without probation, or persons who are proclaimed by the Court as being incapable of civil acts shall not have their names recorded in the list of voters.

- Persons who had their names recorded in the list of voters but are sentenced to death, imprisonment without probation or proclaimed by the Court as being incapable of civil acts to the time of voting shall have their names removed from the list of voters.

2.2. Referendum Votes in Vietnam

According to Article 35 of the Law on Referendums 2015, the referendum votes are as follows:

-  Referendum votes shall be used with uniformity across the country.

- Information of the referendum vote should be complete, clear, objective, accurate and explicit.

- The Standing committee of the National Assembly shall provide specific regulations on content and manner of referendum votes; the printing, issuance and management of referendum votes.

2.3. Announcement of the time and place of the referendum vote

The public announcement of time and venue of voting under Article 36 of the Law on Referendum 2015 is stipulated as follows:

Within 10 days since the date of voting, the Team should make regular notices to local voters about the time and venue of voting by means of posting, broadcasting and other local media.

2.4. Time of referendum voting

According to Article 37 of the Law on Referendums 2015, the time of voting is as follows:

-  Voting starts at 7:00am and ends at 7:00pm on the same day. Depending on each locality, the Team may choose start time or end time at their will but not earlier than 5:00 a.m and not later than 9:00pm respectively on the same day.

In some case, the voting may end earlier but should not be earlier than 3:00 p.m.

- Before the voting, the Team should check ballot boxes in front of voters.

- Voting process should be uninterrupted.

If some unexpected event causes the voting process to stop, the Team shall immediately seal all ballot boxes and related documents, make reports to People’s Committees of communes and at the same time come up with necessary measures to ensure resumption of the voting.

2.5. Early voting and delay in voting

Early voting and delay in voting are prescribed in Article 38 of the Law on Referendums 2015 as follows:

In special cases, early voting or delay in voting is necessary for a number of polling places, one or more administrative units of communes, districts,

The People’s committees of relevant districts, communes shall make immediate report to People’s committees of provinces for submission to the Standing committee of the National Assembly for consideration and decision.

Quoc Dat

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