Mong voters read candidates’ profiles in Say San 2 village, Nung Nang Commune, in the northern moutainous province of Lai Chau’s Tam Duong District.

Early elections took place in various localities across Viet Nam yesterday, two days ahead of the official polling day for the National Assembly and local People’s Councils.

The early procedures were mostly carried out in mountainous, border and isolated communes, where commuting is difficult.

According to a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in the central province of Nghe An, more than 49,000 voters from 31 communes in four upland districts flocked to their local constituencies to cast their votes yesterday.

Luong Van Quoc, head of Na Sanh Village in Tri Le Commune, Que Phong District, said: “I can’t remember how many times I have voted in my life, but I always get a feeling of excitement and responsibility.

“I told my villagers to finish their work early and vote for the candidate who they thought was most capable of helping us climb out of poverty.”

As he wished, all 310 voters from his village had cast their ballots by 10am yesterday.

In another constituency in Na Ngoi Commune in Ky Son District, 70-year-old Vu Nhia Vu expressed his expectation that the newly elected candidates would pay more attention to improving the socio-economic situation in far-flung areas.

Another voter, 18-year-old Vi Thi Tham, was excited to be voting for the first time.

“I voted for two young local women. I hope they will have their say about education and employment policies so we could find jobs after school,” Tham said.

According to Ngo Tri Cuong, an official from the provincial Department of Home Affairs, as of 2pm yesterday, about 95 per cent of voters across the province had cast their votes.

In the southern province of Kien Giang’s Phu Quoc District, all 1,400 voters from Tho Chau Island commune, including armed forces and border soldiers, had finished voting by 1pm yesterday, according to deputy chairman of the district’s People’s Committee, Dinh Khoa Toan.

A ballot box was even placed on Hon Tu Island, 7km from the commune, to serve 15 local voters.

Tho Chau Commune is 200km from the mainland and 120km from Phu Quoc Island.

Yesterday morning, a naval ship loaded with ballot boxes anchored at a port in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau to prepare for the naval forces and fishermen to cast their ballots.

Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Le Dinh Viet, head of the early election delegation on the southern coast, said some fishermen had even chased after the ship to ensure they could exercise their right to vote.

Preparations are under way elsewhere across the country for the main ballot on Sunday.

Communication campaigns have been widely organised in various forms to inform voters about the elections and candidates.

In the southern province of Binh Duong, documents and leaflets have been distributed to households, enterprises, and particularly workers in industrial parks who are mainly migrants.

HCM City’s transport leaders have asked their units to ensure smooth traffic during the day. They also ordered a stop to all roadworks between 12am and 12pm on Sunday.

In the northern mountainous province of Son La, lists and biographies of candidates have been posted in constituencies.

Seventeen border communes have also updated 340 voters, who were recently granted Vietnamese citizenship by the State President, living on the border with Laos.

The country’s electorate will cast their votes for 500 representatives of parliament and over 300,000 members of local People’s Councils.

Source: VNS