Bach Long Vi special zone holds early election voting

The frontier island of Bach Long Vi will organize early voting for National Assembly and People's Council delegates for the 2026-2031 term on 14/3, one day earlier than the rest of the country.

Bach Long Vi, an offshore special zone located approximately 120 nautical miles from the mainland, is heavily dependent on weather conditions for travel. This geographical isolation necessitates early voting during elections to ensure timely completion and integration with Hai Phong City's overall schedule. The National Election Council has approved this proposal from the City Election Committee for the current election cycle.

For this election, the Bach Long Vi special zone has established two polling stations: one at the special zone's Public Service Center and another at the headquarters of the Bach Long Vi Island Defense Battalion. Bach Long Vi is part of election unit 9, which also includes Do Son, Nam Do Son, Hai An, Dong Hai, Duong Kinh, Hung Dao wards, and the Cat Hai special zone. In this unit, 8 candidates are vying for 5 Hai Phong City People's Council delegate positions for the 2026-2031 term.

Across Hai Phong City, there are 7 election units for National Assembly delegates, 18 units for city-level People's Council delegates, and 718 units for commune-level People's Council delegates, totaling 2,577 polling stations. Of these, 2,537 polling stations are organized by villages and residential groups, with an additional 40 separate polling stations. The city's voter list includes over 3.18 million people and is managed using a specialized software system to track population changes.

For this election, Hai Phong has 33 candidates for National Assembly delegates, with 9 nominated by the central government and 24 by local authorities; the proportion of female candidates is 50%. Additionally, there are 139 candidates for city-level People's Council delegates and 3,952 candidates for commune-level People's Council delegates.

Bach Long Vi special zone prepares for the election. Photo: Thai Phan

To ensure a smooth election day, Hai Phong has formed 10 inter-agency inspection teams to monitor election preparations across all 114 communes, wards, and special zones in three phases. On the morning of 11/3, an election monitoring delegation from Hai Phong City visited Bach Long Vi island to inspect the preparations and early voting arrangements. The City Police and City Military Command have also developed plans to protect key targets and ensure security and order throughout the election period. Do Huy Chinh, Deputy Director of Hai Phong Department of Home Affairs, confirmed that all ballots, candidate profiles, voter cards, and six types of instructional documents have been printed and fully distributed to the polling stations.