The whole-process people's democracy in China is the unity of people's democracy and the will of the State. It is the most authentic and effective socialist democracy.

In the first half of this year, the general elections for people's congresses at the county and township levels across the country started. 

On the second day after the central conference on work related to people's congresses, the 106-year-old Li Chaolan from Yong'an village in Xinhua township of Tianquan county, Ya'an city, Sichuan province, ushered in the 18th general election vote in her life. She exercised her rights in accordance with the law, and cast a precious vote for the new generation of deputies to the county and township people's congresses.

"I have voted for deputies to the people's congresses for 18 times. The first time I participated in the election was in the winter of 1953. I was so happy that day that I almost stayed awake for the whole night. Now 70 years have passed by," Li said.

The 18 general elections are a profound memory for Li, who has witnessed the establishment and improvement of China's electoral system which also demonstrated the unique advantages of the people's congress system. 

Election of deputies to the people's congresses is an important way for the people to exercise State power, and it is also a direct manifestation of the people being masters of the country. 

According to the Electoral Law, deputies to the people's congresses at the county and township levels are directly elected by voters. In direct elections, there are usually three venues for voters to cast their votes: one is the polling station, which is set up by the election committee according to the distribution of voters in each constituency and in accordance with the principle of facilitating the vote. This is also the most important place for voting. 

The 106-year-old Li Chaolan from Yong'an village in Xinhua township of Tianquan county, Ya'an city, Sichuan province, ushers in the 18th general election vote in her life. [Photo/npc.gov.cn]

The second is the election conference. If voters live in a relatively concentrated population, an election meeting can be held for the election. The specific method is determined by the election committee.

The third is the mobile ballot box. Voters who are inconvenienced due to illness or other reasons, or who live in scattered locations and have no means of transportation can use the mobile ballot box to vote.

On July 1, 1979, the new electoral law was approved at the second session of the fifth National People's Congress (NPC), and it was amended in 1982, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2010, 2015, and 2020. 

The "mobile ballot box" is a regulation added when the Electoral Law was revised in 1995 and further regulated in 2010.

The voting rights of people due to inconvenient mobility or scattered residence and unreliable transportation are of great significance.

Xinhua township is located in the hinterland of the mountainous area of Tianquan county, with high mountains and steep slopes, and many farmers live in scattered areas. 

To facilitate voters with limited mobility, the Xinhua Township Election Committee specially arranged staff members to carry mobile ballot boxes for "home services".

"The people being the masters of the country is not an abstract concept, it is reflected in institutional arrangements and election practices," Lv Jianwen, deputy director of the standing committee of the Tianquan county people's congress. 

In this year's general election, Xinhua township registered a total of 5,867 voters, and 5,697 voters participated in the vote. The voter participation rate reached 97.1 percent, of which 1,196 voted through the mobile ballot box. 

"We protect their rights to vote and be elected in accordance with the law, so that people's democracy can be embodied in the practice. The question of doing a good job in the general election of the county and township people's congresses has its meaning," said Wang Tianfu, director of the deputy work committee of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress. 

To deal with the current frequent urban and rural population flow and the separation of households, the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress has specially formulated a voter registration work promotion plan to guide the two cities of Mianyang and Yibin to carry out pilot projects for voter registration, which will reduce the problem of "wrong registration, missed registration, and re-registration" and protect the majority of voters in exercising their rights to vote and be elected in accordance with the law. 

Statistics show that from July 1953 to May 1954, the election of deputies to the grassroots people's congresses was carried out nationwide. At that time, the country had a population of 600 million, with 323 million registered voters, accounting for 97.18 percent of the total population over the age of 18 in the electoral region. 

Of the 278 million people who participated in the voting, more than 5.66 million grassroots deputies to the local people's congresses were elected. By August 1954, the meetings of the people's congresses were held at all levels.

On this basis, the provincial and municipal people's congresses, the administrative units of ethnic minorities and the 45 electoral units including military groups and overseas Chinese elected 1,226 deputies to the first National People's Congress.

On Sept 15, 1954, the first session of the first NPC was held in Huairen Hall, Zhongnanhai, Beijing. The conference passed the first Constitution in the history of China. Since then, the people's congress system has been established nationwide as the fundamental political system of China.

"It is the Party that makes people the masters of the country and it is up to us to choose," Li said after the vote. "The route from Xinhua to the city used to be gravel roads. It took a whole day to go to the city. It's great now and there are big roads everywhere. Life is getting better and better."

On the night of Oct 15, Tianquan completed all elections and elected 170 deputies to the county people's congress and 553 deputies to the township people's congress in accordance with the law. Later the towns of Tianquan held the first meeting of the new people's congress, which voted for the town-level governments' livelihood projects for 2022, involving rural infrastructure improvement, road construction, rural drinking water safety, flood control, drainage projects and tourism development.

The innovative practice of grassroots democracy has implemented the people-centered development concept and explained that the whole-process people's democracy is a full-chain, all-round, and full-covered democracy. It is the most extensive, true and effective socialist democracy.