More than 130 local officials have been charged with vote-buying,
embezzlement and other election fraud as millions of Chinese voters elect tens
of thousands of officials and representatives this year and next.
The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central
Committee and the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a
press release on Tuesday that it is investigating 70 cases involving election
irregularities.
Under China's electoral process, elections for Party officials to Party posts
and representatives to non-Party legislative bodies are being held concurrently
this year and next. Seventy million Party members will vote to elect 100,000
Party officials and millions more registered voters will elect representatives
to local and regional people's congresses and consultative assemblies.
Inspections teams have been sent across the country to supervise local
elections. Several provinces have also open telephone hotlines and websites to
invite the public to report corruption and malpractice.
"In general, elections at the municipal, county and township levels are going
on well," the Party press release said.
Still several election scandals have been already been exposed. Earlier this
year, Lu Chengli, former deputy head of the town of Tangzhui in Wuchuan city, of
south China's Guangdong Province, was removed from his post and expelled from
Party after he rigged his election as deputy town head in April. He gave favors
to 12 delegates who nominated him and paid 55 delegates to the township people's
congress 1,000 yuan each in return for their votes.
The CPC brought some of the scandals to light earlier this year hoping to
deter similar corrupt practices in the upcoming elections. Most of the violators
were expelled from the Party.