Vietnam holds parliamentary elections in the midst of a new COVID appearance Election news

There are fewer independent candidates than in previous years in the 500-seat National Assembly this year.

The masked Vietnamese went to the polls on Sunday, expecting tens of millions to largely choose the rubber stamp legislature amid a quick outbreak of COVID-19.

Fewer independent candidates than before are running in the five-seat National Assembly elections, every five years and usually after a congress to elect new leaders to the ruling Communist Party.

Despite the openness of social change and free trade agreements in the Southeast Asian nation, the Communist Party – one of the last communist governing parties in the world – maintains close control over Vietnam and its media and accepts few disagreements.

Nearly 69.2 million registered voters will also vote for members of provincial and district town councils.

“I hope that all voters, aware of the role they play as the country’s owners, will vote to select the most reliable and dignified candidates to represent their voice,” National Assembly Speaker Vuong Dinh Hue said before the election.

92% of the candidates for the National Assembly are members of the Communist Party, which is essentially in favor of independent candidates.

The number of non-party candidates has dropped to 74 this year in the previous 2016 elections. Local media said deputies from non-party councilors had dropped by half in the last three elections.

According to official figures, 99% of Vietnam’s 67.5 million voters ran in the 2016 elections.

Voting is anonymous, but the name, age, profession, ethnicity and address of each voter are posted outside the polling stations.

While the election is fighting a new outbreak of COVID-19 in Vietnam, it has spread rapidly and has infected 2,066 people since its inception in late April.

In the Hanoi Long Bien district, approximately 30 voters were seen taking turns in a voting booth, dressed in rounds.

Before queuing, voters took their temperature at a nearby table, offered free masks and hand sanitizers, with a loudspeaker to keep them at a safe distance.

Hue said Sunday’s vote was the first “among the most dangerous outbreaks of coronavirus to spread to nearly half of the provinces, many of which are blocked.”

He said the organizers have taken steps to ensure that the elections will be held safely.

Election results are usually announced in about two weeks.