Can electors ask someone else to vote on their behalf in Vietnam?

Can electors ask someone else to vote on their behalf in Vietnam? (Illustration)

Article 69 of Vietnam's Law on election of deputies to the National Assembly and People’s councils 2015 provides as follows:

Electors shall cast their ballots by themselves in Vietnam, except for the following cases:

(1) Any elector unable to write his/her ballot may ask another person to do that for him/her but he/she is required to cast the ballot by himself/herself; the person who helps in writing the ballot must keep secret the elector’s ballot.

(2) If, due to his/her disability, the elector is unable to cast ballot by himself/herself, he/she can ask another person to cast the ballot into the ballot box.

(3) In cases where an elector is ill, old or disabled, being unable to go to the polling booth, the Election Team shall bring an auxiliary ballot box and the ballot to his/her residence so that he/she can receive the ballot and cast it.

(4) In cases where an elector is detained or stayed in a reform school or a detoxification center which have no separate polling station or the elector is arrested temporarily, the Electoral Team shall bring an auxiliary ballot box and the ballot to the detention center, arrest center, reform school or detoxification center so that he/she can receive the ballot and cast it.

Thus, if not falling into the above 4 cases, Electors are not allowed to ask other people to vote on their behalf.

In addition, the penalties for election-related violations is carried out in accordance with Article 95 of Vietnam's Law on election of deputies to the National Assembly and People’s councils:

Any person who resorts to cheating, inducement or coercion to hinder the citizens’ voting and candidacy; any person who commits violations against regulations of law on election campaigns; any person responsible for the electoral work who forges documents, commits fraudulence in the vote count or resort to other tricks to falsify the election result shall, depending on the severity of the violation, be disciplined, subject to administrative sanctions or liable to criminal prosecution.

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