How is the village chief elected?

Lao Dong Newspaper Legal Consulting Office replied:

Clause 1, Article 12 of the Consolidated Document of Circular 08/VBHN-BNV dated October 27, 2022 of the Ministry of Home Affairs guiding the organization and operation of villages and residential groups, regulating the process of electing, dismissing and removing Village Heads and Residential Group Heads as follows:

a) Based on the agreement with the Party Cell, the Village Front Working Committee, the residential group nominates a list for the Village and Residential Group Conference to elect the Village Chief and Residential Group Leader; at this conference, voters in the village and residential group can self-nominate or nominate candidates. Based on the election results, the Commune People's Committee decides to recognize the Village Chief and Residential Group Leader. The time of the election is implemented according to the regulations of the Provincial People's Committee;

b) The process of electing, dismissing and removing Village Heads and Heads of Residential Groups shall comply with the provisions of Chapter 2 of Joint Resolution No. 09/2008/NQLT-CP-UBTWMTTQVN dated April 17, 2008 of the Government and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front guiding the implementation of Articles 11, 14, 16, 22 and 26 of the Ordinance on Democracy in Communes, Wards and Towns.

Article 8, Chapter 2, Joint Resolution No. 09/2008/NQLT-CP-UBTWMTTQVN stipulates the election of Village Heads and Heads of Residential Groups at village and residential group conferences as follows:

1. The head of the election team presides over the election conference for the Village Chief and Head of the Residential Group.

The conference to elect the Village Chief and Head of the Residential Group is held when more than 50% of voters or voters representing households in the village or residential group attend.

2. The election of Village Chief and Head of Residential Group is carried out in the following order:

a) The head of the election team reads the decision announcing the election date; the decision to establish the election team, the duties and powers of the election team; and the decision on the composition of voters participating in the election;

b) The head of the election team decides to let the incumbent Village Chief and Head of the Residential Group report on the results of their work in the past term to the voters' conference; the voters' conference discusses the work in the past term of the Village Chief and Head of the Residential Group.

c) The head of the election team states the criteria for the Village Chief and Head of the Residential Group;

d) Representatives of the Village and Residential Group Front Committees introduce a list of candidates for the position of Village Chief or Residential Group Head nominated by the Village and Residential Group Front Committees and agreed upon by the Village and Residential Group Party Committees according to the procedures specified in Clause 2, Article 6 of these Guidelines. At this conference, voters can self-nominate or nominate candidates;

d) The conference discusses and gives opinions on the candidates. Based on the opinions of the voters, the Election Committee determines the list of candidates for the conference to vote on. The vote on the number and list of candidates is conducted by a show of hands and is valid when more than 50% of the voters attending the conference agree;

e) Conduct election of Village Chief and Head of Residential Group:

- The election may be by show of hands or secret ballot as decided by the conference;

- If voting is by show of hands, the Election Committee will directly count the votes. If voting is by secret ballot, the Election Committee will count the votes.

- The election team shall conduct the vote counting at the polling place immediately after the end of the voting; invite voter representatives who are not candidates to be present to witness the vote counting.

After counting the votes, the Election Committee shall prepare a vote counting report. The vote counting report must clearly state: The total number of voters or voters representing households in the village or residential group; the number of voters attending the conference; the number of ballots issued; the number of ballots collected; the number of valid ballots; the number of invalid ballots; the number of ballots and the percentage of votes for each candidate compared to the total number of voters or voters representing households in the entire village or residential group.

The elected Village Chief or Head of the Residential Group is the person who receives more than 50% of valid votes compared to the total number of voters or voters representing households in the entire village or residential group.

The vote counting minutes are made in 03 copies, signed by the members of the Election Committee.

g) The head of the election team shall prepare a report on the election results of the Village Chief and Head of the Residential Group, together with the Minutes of the vote count, and immediately send it to the People's Committee and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the commune level.

3. In case the election results show that no one receives more than 50% of the valid votes compared to the total number of voters or voters representing households in the entire village or residential group, a re-election will be held. The re-election date will be decided by the People's Committee at the commune level, but no later than 15 days from the date of the first election.

If the second election fails to elect a Village Chief or Head of the Residential Group, the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee shall decide to appoint a temporary Village Chief or Head of the Residential Group to manage the activities of the village or residential group until a new Village Chief or Head of the Residential Group is elected.

Within 6 months from the date the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee decides to appoint a temporary Village Head or Head of a Residential Group, the Commune People's Committee must organize the election of a new Village Head or Head of a Residential Group. The process of electing a new Village Head or Head of a Residential Group shall comply with the provisions of Article 6, Article 7 and Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 8 of this Guide.

Thus, the election of Village Chief is regulated as above.