DETAILED FUNCTIONS OF THE ELECTION COMMITTEE

Adopted at the First Session of the Central Executive Committee

December 1931

[Text] Chapter One. General Provisions

Article 1.

In accordance with the articles 76 to 79 of the Constitution, and as set forth in the various articles of the election process, a work procedure (standard operations procedure?) is especially proclaimed to facilitate the work of the election committee.

Article 2.

The Central Executive Committee has the authority to rescind or revise this process, and it has the right to interpret unclear points or points in dispute regarding this work procedure.

Article 3.

This work procedure is to be implemented in the entire territory of the Chinese Soviet Republic, and all election committees shall function in accordance with this procedure.

Chapter Two. Staffing of the Election Committee

Article 4.

After the election committee has been established in accordance with the election process, the members of the committee should lose no time in assigning work among themselves, with each member shouldering part of the function of the election committee.

Article 5.

The committee members should not be divorced from production. They may be relieved of the work assigned to them when they are managing an election so as to devote themselves to it.

Article 6.

The employment of special functionaries, such as secretaries and registration clerks, may be considered, but, whenever possible, employ those from the executive committees of administrative areas and urban soviets.

Article 7.

It is not necessary to set up a separate office as the premises of the administrative areas' executive committees and of the urban soviets may be utilized.

Chapter Three. Pre-election Work

Article 8.

Voter registration should be carried out in an election area 2 weeks before the election. In registering voters, the election committee may assign special registration clerks for the unorganized electorate, and this task may be entrusted to the leaders of the organized electorate.

Article 9.

Registration of voters should be made on voters registration cards published by the Central Executive Committee.

Article 10.

After the registration, the election committee must designate members to organize committees for examining these cards.

Article 11.

When the examination has been completed, a list of qualified voters should be published and put up in the residential areas or in the fields of the voters. (Note:) In accordance with the election law, election notices should be circulated. However, in order to facilitate the election work, the publication of a voters' list is substituted as a temporary measure.

Article 12.

The voters' list should be published 3 days before the election takes place.

Article 13.

The draft of the proposals forwarded by the voters through their representatives should be prepared before the election and first published in the areas where the voters live so that they will have prior understanding of what proposals should be made.

Article 14.

Before the election, the committee should publish the total number of voters in the various locales of the elections and the number of representatives and alternate representatives that should be elected (a ratio of five representatives to one alternate representative). If the number of alternates are not enough to fulfill this ratio, one alternate member may be elected. Besides, a list of those stripped of their voting rights should be published after it has been processed through the executive committee of the area and the urban soviet.

Article 15.

The time and place of the election must be made public 3 days before the election.

Article 16.

Prepare the election site, post gate guards, then assign workers to register the people entering the site. Voters should be let into the election site in the order of the name list.

Chapter Four. Work During the Election

Article 17.

Any and all of the election meetings must be attended by the chairman of the election committee, or assign a fully empowered representative to participate.

Article 18.

The chairman of the election committee or the fully empowered representative shall announce the opening of the election meeting followed by an announcement on whether the attendance of the meeting has the full required number as prescribed by law.

Article 19.

The chairman of the election committee or the representative plenipotentiary is the presiding chairman of the election.

Article 20.

The first item on the agenda of the election meeting is the announcement by the chairman of the election committee or the fully empowered representative, in accordance with requirement of articles 73, 74, and 75 of the Constitution, of who has the right to vote, who has the right to be elected, who has been stripped of his right to vote or to be elected.

Chapter Five. Post Election Work

Article 21.

The election committee must collect together the documents of the election (such as voters' registration lists, minutes of the election meetings, registration of attendance) and hand them over to the executive committee of the area or the urban soviet for review.

Article 22.

The election committee must make a summation report on the meeting to the area's executive committee or the urban soviet. A detailed financial report should also be made to the area executive committee or the urban soviet on the expense outlay of the election committee.

Article 23.

After the close of the meeting, the election committee will wind up its affairs, turn over everything bought by the committee to the area executive committee or the urban soviet and cease its function.

Mao Tse-tung, Chairman

Hsiang Ying, Chang Kuo-tao, Vice Chairmen

Central Executive Committee

o "Detailed Election Regulations of the Chinese Soviet Republic," printed by the Central Executive Committee, December 1931
* Anthology of Red Bandits' Reactionary Documents, Vol 3, 1935