Hanoi gears up for May 23 general election amid COVID-19 threat

Millions of local voters are poised to go to the polls on May 23 as they elect deputies to the 15th National Assembly (NA) and grassroots-level People’s Councils for the 2021 to 2026 tenure. At present all preparations for Election Day, which represents the most important political event of the year, have been completed.

At constituency No.9 of Trung Hoa ward in Cau Giay district, officials have been putting the finishing touches to decorations and arrangements of ballot boxes and seats for voters. Rows of tables featuring an attached list of candidates and plastic shields have been set out in a way that meets relevant COVID-19 guidelines.

Nguyen Quoc Khanh, head of the voting team in the constituency, told VOV that ballots which contain the list of candidates and their profile, along with the contact phone numbers of the voting team, have already been delivered to voters in the residential area.

“Voters must meet COVID-19 guidelines, including donning face masks, washing their hands, and keeping a safe distance when going to the polls,” said Khanh. “If the epidemic gets worse, we will arrange a voting time for people living in certain locations.”

Nguyen Hai, deputy head of Trung Hoa ward’s administration, stated that each polling station is required to set up a quarantine room, whilst all members of the voting team must also have personal protected clothing ready.

Due to the dense nature of the capital, the local administration has moved to ramp up communication campaigns through public media platforms in order to raise people’s awareness of their voting rights. Hanoi’s loudspeaker system operates twice a day to issue reminders for local people of their rights and current COVID-19 control measures.

Voting teams have already tested software on vote counting to ensure that the system runs smoothly ahead of the election.

With the capital announcing May 14 as the deadline for shuttle election campaigns, candidates running for their seats at the upcoming NA and grassroots-level People’s Councils have been forced to hurriedly meet with voters over the past few days ahead of the deadline.

“We will try our best to ensure that May 23 is a festive day for local people in all circumstances, even when a social distancing order is imposed and mobile ballot boxes are delivered,” said Dinh Tien Dung, secretary of the Municipal Party Committee.