Open letter to Shenzhen voters: Twelve questions refer to the right to know, nominate and supervise in grassroots people's election

On August 10, 2026, the former delegate of the People's Republic of Hubei, Yao, issued the "Open Letter to Shenzhen City voters", in twelve consecutive questions, to the voters in Shenzhen, concentrated to point out that the grassroots People's Congress elections involve the distribution of electoral districts, the number of representatives, voter registration, candidate recommendation, candidate determination, secret writing, dismissal and reporting disruption of election behavior a series of legal rights.

This open letter does not discuss abstract political concepts, but puts the issue directly at a level that is most basic but long easily overlooked: as an voter, who knows exactly where his electoral district is, who is responsible for organizing the elections, how many representatives a electoral district will elect, how candidates are produced, whether ordinary voters can participate in recommendations, discussions and consultations, whether they can secretly fill out the ballots when voting, and whether, after being elected as a representative, voters know that they still have the right to supervise and even ask for removal according to law.

In the letter, Yao cited laws and regulations such as the "Regulations for the Implementation of Elections to People's Congresses at various levels in Guangdong Province", and transformed these system designs into twelve problems directly facing ordinary voters.

These questions seem concrete and trivial and actually touch on the key aspects of how the grassroots popular election system really works.

If voters don’t even know how their electoral districts are divided, how many seats are allocated to their electoral districts, and who the electoral workgroups are made up of, then so-called voter surveillance can be difficult to really start.

If the voters do not know that they can object to the voter list, do not know that more than ten voters can jointly recommend representative candidates in accordance with the law, do not know that the process of determining candidates involves group discussion and consultation, nor do they know that the election committee can require the candidate to organize a meeting with the voters, then the right to participate stipulated in the legal text is easily degraded into procedures familiar to only a few organizers in the actual election process.

Particularly notable in the open letter is the ongoing questioning of the “candidate-generating mechanism.”

Representative elections are not just the day a ballot ticket is put into the box. The real determination of the level of competition and the composition of representatives is often made before the ballot. From the recommendation of candidates, to the formation of candidate lists, to the determination of official candidates, each process directly affects what the voter will eventually face.

Therefore, whether voters really know that they can recommend candidates in accordance with the law, whether they have the opportunity to participate in candidate discussions and consultations, whether they can understand the candidate's situation and put questions in front of them, than simply stress "vote according to the law" can test whether a grassroots people's election has substantial public participation.

Yao’s legislation also pushed the issue to the voting process itself.

A secret ballot is not a technical detail that can be ignored. Voters fill out their ballots independently without side-by-side circumvention, hint and intervention, which is one of the most basic conditions for the free expression of their will to vote. If the ballot can not guarantee the secret ballot, or voters do not know they have this right, then the presence of the ballot form is not, of course, proof that the will of the voters is fully respected.

The last two questions in the open letter extend the right to vote after the elections.

In accordance with the provisions of the laws listed in the letter of Yao legislation, voters of the original electoral district who reach the legal number may, in accordance with the law, submit a request for resignation in writing; voters also have the right to report or complain to the staff of the institutions or other persons who disrupt the election.

This means that, in terms of the textual structure of the legal system, voters do not only have rights on the day of the vote, but should go through the entire process of registering voters, nominating candidates, voting, supervising and representation.

The question is just how many ordinary voters really know these procedures and rights.

When the electoral system relies heavily on the grassroots administrative system and organizational system for specific implementation, if the electoral information is not fully disclosed, if voters can only passively wait for notification, if candidates are nominated, consulted and identified in the absence of public mechanisms for ordinary voters to observe and participate, then the voting right written in the law can be compressed in actual operation into a single procedural vote.

The meaning of this open letter of Yao legislation is also here.

The twelve questions appear to be asking the voters in Shenzhen, but in fact the same is asking the local election organizers: has important information about the election been actively disclosed? is ordinary voters really being informed of their rights? can the candidate recommend and determine the procedure to enable the voters to actually participate? is the secret ballot protected? is there a clear, open and operational channel for voters to raise objections, supervision and dismissal requests?

For any set of electoral systems that claim to operate according to law, the criteria should not be merely whether there are legal provisions, nor should it be merely whether there are no organized votes.

More importantly, the rights provided by the law cannot be known to ordinary people, can be used by ordinary people, and will the voters encounter obstacles outside the system when they actually use those rights.

Yao's legislation puts these questions before Shenzhen voters one by one.

These questions need to be answered, not just by the voters themselves.

The following is the full text of Yao Legislative Open Letter:

Yao Legislation: An Open Letter to Shenzhen City Voters

Hello friends of voters!

In accordance with laws and regulations such as the "Regulations for the Implementation of Elections to People's Congresses at All Levels in Guangdong Province" (amended in March 2016), you have a lot of voting rights, the right to be elected and the right to supervise all aspects of the election according to law.

Do you know who your own electoral district or electoral district and the representatives of the municipality are composed of?

Do you know the number of elected representatives to be allocated to your electoral district or district and municipal representatives?

Do you know how your own electoral district or electoral district and the municipal representative district are divided?

Do you know your legal right to file a complaint with the Electoral Commission within five days from the date of publication of the Electoral List, if you personally disagree with the “electoral list” of your electoral district or electoral district and the electoral district of the Municipal People’s Congress?

Do you know that you have the legal right to elect the chairman and deputy chairman of the group of voters within your electoral district or electoral district and the electoral district of the municipality's representatives?

Do you know that you personally have the legal right to participate in more than ten joint names, equivalent recommendation of districts or districts and candidates for representatives of the city council?

Do you know that when the number of representative candidates in your own electoral district or electoral district and the representative district of the city council does not exceed the legal proportion of the maximum difference, you have the legal right to participate in the "electoral panel discussion, consultation, and determination of the official representative list of candidates" meeting?

Do you know that when the number of representative candidates in your own electoral district or electoral district and the electoral district of the people's congress exceeds the legal proportion of the maximum difference, you have the legal right to participate in the "electoral panel discussion, consultation, and according to the opinion of the majority of voters, determine the official representative list of candidates" conference?

Do you know that you have the legal right to the district or district and municipal election committees to request that they "organize representative candidates to meet with voters, present their own situation by representative candidates, answer questions posed by voters"?

Did you know that on the day of the election, you have the legal right to enter the "secret ballot station" established by the electoral assembly venue or polling station to fill out the ballots?

You know you have legal rights.

For people's congress representatives at the county level with more than 50 joint names of the original electoral district, and for people's congress representatives at the rural level with more than 30 joint names of the original electoral district, can the people's congress standing committee at the county level submit a written request for dismissal?

Do you know that you have the legal right to report or file a complaint against the staff of the election agency and other voters who have disrupted the election?

Hubei province suburban county-level municipal voter, suburban city former people's representative Yao legislation

Yao Legislative Mobile Phone WeChat number 13339728964.

10 August 2026