Thirty-year-old Chen Guoliang was surprised when prison guards
asked him to vote in Shanghai's congressional elections.
He had no idea that being in prison did not exclude his voting
rights. Chen and his inmates were among over 10 million Shanghai
residents who voted yesterday during the elections for the people's
congresses at county and town levels.
The Chinese Constitution stipulates that every citizen above the
age of 18 has the right to vote and to be elected unless deprived
of these rights by law. In Shanghai's Qingpu Prison, 723 prisoners
out of 2,700 have the right to vote and all of them voted
yesterday.
Before the prisoners started voting at 9:30 AM, Shi Weiping, a
prison official, briefed the prisoners about the candidates and
read out "every elector must cherish the right to vote and vote for
the people you support."
Tally clerks began counting the votes immediately after Chen
Guoliang and others voted, writing the results on a blackboard.
Prisoners then pocketed their voting certificates and left the
polling station.
It was the first time for Zhang Zhihua, 42, to vote in prison.
He had voted twice in the reelection of the people's congress of
the district where he lived.
"I did not care about election before. However, as a prisoner I
found it a solemn right," he said.
Qingpu Prison had prepared for yesterday's voting by raising
awareness among prisoners, said warden Wu Qi.
Wu said the voting of prisoners showed political democracy in
China. "They were put into prison because they broke the law.
However, their legal rights are still protected," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2006)