Results of Viet Nam’s nationwide legislative body election on May 22 were announced Thursday afternoon by the National Election Council.

Every 5 years, eligible voters across Viet Nam take part in a national election to select members for the country’s lawmaking National Assembly (NA), as well as local-level People’s Councils.

The election results were released at 3:00 pm on Thursday by the National Election Council.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc Tuoi Tre

According to Chief of the National Election Council Office Nguyen Hanh Phuc, over 67 million voters cast their ballot in this year’s election, accounting for 99.35% of the country’s electorate.

Four hundred and 96 candidates acquired enough valid votes to hold office as NA members, 4 short of the 500-seat quota set out before the election, according to the National Election Council.

For the local-level People’s Councils, 3,908 people were elected into office for provincial People’s Councils (eight short); 25,179 for district-level People’s Councils (120 short); and 291,273 for commune-level People’s Councils (6,026 short).

Of the 496 elected NA members, 86 were of ethnic minorities, 133 were women, 71 were under the age of 40, 317 were first-time legislative office holders, and 2 were self-nominated candidates.

This year’s election results also set a new record for the percentage of Party members holding seats in the legislature, with 475 National Assembly members affiliated with the Communist Party of Viet Nam, accounting for 95.8% of its total 496 deputies.

Nearly 100 members of the Party Central Committee were elected into office, 19 of whom were members of the Politburo, the all-powerful body.

Incumbent Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was elected with the highest percentage of votes, at 99.48% of all valid ballots in his constituency.

The 496 newly elected NA members will hold office for the 2016-2021 term, and are expected to convene their first congress on July 20.

(Source: tuoitrenews)