Wang Zhaoguo, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, speaks at the second plenary meeting of the 10-day session. [Xinhua]

2010年3月8日，第十一屆全國(guó)人民代表大會(huì)第三次會(huì)議在人民大會(huì)堂舉行第二次全體會(huì)議，聽取全國(guó)人大常委會(huì)副委員長(zhǎng)王兆國(guó)關(guān)于《中華人民共和國(guó)全國(guó)人民代表大會(huì)和地方各級(jí)人民代表大會(huì)選舉法修正案（草案）》的說明，全文如下：

The following is the full text of the Explanation on the Draft Amendments to the Electoral Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses of the People's Republic of China delivered by Wang Zhaoguo, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Third Session of the 11th NPC in the Great Hall of the People on March 8, 2010: 

各位代表，

Fellow Deputies,

我受全國(guó)人大常委會(huì)委托，現(xiàn)對(duì)《中華人民共和國(guó)全國(guó)人民代表大會(huì)和地方各級(jí)人民代表大會(huì)選舉法修正案（草案）》作說明。

I have been entrusted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) to explain the Draft Amendments to the Electoral Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses of the People's Republic of China.

一、修改選舉法的必要性

I. Necessity of amending the Electoral Law

選舉制度是人民代表大會(huì)制度的基礎(chǔ)，選舉法是保障公民依法行使選舉權(quán)和被選舉權(quán)，依法產(chǎn)生各級(jí)人大代表的重要法律。選舉法最早于1953年制定，1979年重新修訂，其后經(jīng)過四次修改。黨的十七大提出，要堅(jiān)定不移地發(fā)展社會(huì)主義民主政治，擴(kuò)大人民民主，保證人民當(dāng)家作主，建議逐步實(shí)行城鄉(xiāng)按相同人口比例選舉人大代表。貫徹落實(shí)黨的十七大的要求，有必要在深入總結(jié)選舉工作實(shí)踐經(jīng)驗(yàn)的基礎(chǔ)上，對(duì)選舉法進(jìn)行適當(dāng)修改。

The electoral system is the foundation of the system of people's congresses. The Electoral Law is an important law which guarantees citizens the right to vote and the right to stand for election and which produces deputies to the people's congresses at all levels in accordance with the law. The Electoral Law was first enacted in 1953, revised in 1979, and it has been amended four times since then. At the Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), it was proposed that we should firmly develop socialist democratic politics, expand the people's democracy, and ensure the people are the masters of the country. It was also suggested that we should gradually achieve the goal of electing deputies to people's congresses based on the same population ratio in urban and rural areas. In order to implement the requirements put forward at the Seventeenth National Congress, it was necessary to appropriately revise the Electoral Law on the basis of a review of our practical experience of elections.

選舉人大代表的城鄉(xiāng)人口比例，是選舉法中的一個(gè)重要內(nèi)容。新中國(guó)成立后，1953年制定第一部選舉法時(shí)，我國(guó)的城鎮(zhèn)人口比重較低，根據(jù)當(dāng)年人口普查統(tǒng)計(jì)，只有13.26%。考慮到我國(guó)當(dāng)時(shí)工人階級(jí)主要集中在城市的具體情況，為了體現(xiàn)工人階級(jí)在國(guó)家政治生活中的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)地位和工業(yè)化發(fā)展方向，選舉法對(duì)農(nóng)村和城市選舉每一代表所需的人口數(shù)作了不同的規(guī)定。比如，規(guī)定全國(guó)人大代表的選舉，各省按每80萬人選代表1人，直轄市和人口在50萬以上的省轄市按每10萬人選代表1人。這樣規(guī)定，符合我國(guó)的政治制度和當(dāng)時(shí)的實(shí)際情況，是完全必要的。1979年修訂選舉法時(shí)，當(dāng)時(shí)的城鎮(zhèn)人口比重也才達(dá)到18.96%，因此基本上延續(xù)了1953年的規(guī)定，對(duì)于選舉人大代表的城鄉(xiāng)不同人口比例未作大的修改，但對(duì)不同層級(jí)規(guī)定得更加明確：全國(guó)為8：1，省、自治區(qū)為5：1，自治州、縣、自治縣為4：1。

The ratio of urban to rural population for electing a deputy to a people's congress is an important part of the Electoral Law. After the founding of New China and when the first electoral law was enacted in 1953, the urban population in China was relatively small - only 13.26% according to the 1953 national census. Given that the working class was mainly concentrated in cities at that time, in order to reflect the leading position of the working class in national political life and the orientation toward industrial development, the Electoral Law included differing regulations on the number of people needed to elect a deputy in rural and urban areas. For instance, the regulations for electing an NPC deputy stipulated that each province could elect one deputy for every 800,000 people, and municipalities directly under the central government and cities under the jurisdiction of provincial governments with a population of more than 500,000 people could elect one deputy for every 100,000 people. Such stipulations were absolutely necessary and conformed with China's political system and the particular situation at that time. When the Electoral Law was revised in 1979, the urban population had reached 18.96%. As a result, the 1953 stipulations basically remained in place and no big changes were made with respect to electing deputies to people's congresses based on different population ratios in urban and rural areas; however, the stipulations on ratios for people's congresses at different levels were clarified: the ratio was stipulated as eight to one for the NPC, five to one for people's congresses of provinces and autonomous regions, and four to one for people's congresses of counties and for autonomous prefectures and counties.