Decree No. 54/2018/ND-CP dated April 16, 2018 of the Government on guiding the collection of voters’ opinions on the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation and adjustment of boundaries, of administrative units

DECREE

Guiding the collection of voters’ opinions on the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation and adjustment of boundaries, of administrative units^[1]

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of Local Administrations;

At the proposal of the Minister of Home Affairs;

The Government promulgates the Decree guiding the collection of voters’ opinions on the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation and adjustment of boundaries, of administrative units.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. Scope of regulation: This Decree guides the collection of voters’ opinions on the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation and adjustment of boundaries, of administrative units provided in Clause 2, Article 131 of the Law on Organization of Local Administrations.

2. Subjects of application: Organizations and individuals directly engaged in the collection of voters’ opinions on the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation and adjustment of boundaries, of administrative units.

Article 2.Interpretation of terms

In this Decree, voter means a citizen of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam who has registered permanent residence inacommune-level administrative unit who is directly affected by the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries, of an administrative unit, aged full 18 years and having full civil act capacity counting from the date the competent agency decides the organization of the collection of voters’ opinions.

Article 3.Prohibited acts

1. Disseminating or providing untruthful information about contents and purpose of the collection of voters’ opinions.

2. Using tricks to deceive, buy off, force or prevent voters from giving their opinions or collecting opinions of voters against their willingness.

3. Forging papers or committing a fraud or using other tricks to falsify results of the collection of voters’ opinions.

4. Taking advantage of the collection of voters’ opinions to provoke violence, disturb or infringe upon the national security and social order and safety, or infringe upon national interests as well as legitimate rights and interests of state agencies, organizations and individuals.

Chapter II

LIST OF VOTERS FOR DISTRIBUTION OF OPINION POLLS

Article 4.Principles for making of the list of voters for distributing opinion polls

1. All voters in a commune-level administrative unit who are directly affected by the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries, of such administrative unit may be named in the list of voters and distributed voter opinion polls.

2. Each voter may write his/her name on the list of voters in the locality where he/she registers his/her permanent residence.

3. For a voter who is held in custody or temporary detention or being subject to the measure of consignment into a compulsory education institution or compulsory rehab center, the commune-level People’s Committee where he/she registers his/her permanent residence shall write his/her name on the list of voters for distribution of opinion polls in the locality where he/she is held in custody or temporary detention or where the compulsory education institution or compulsory rehab center is located.

4. For an overseas voter who returns to Vietnam during the period from the time the list of voters is made by the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where he/she resides to 24 hours to the time the competent agency decides the collection of voters’ opinions, he/she shall produce a passport stating his/her Vietnamese nationality to the commune-level People’s Committee where he/she registers his/her permanent residence to be named on the list of voters and distributed a voter opinion poll.

5. A voter who changes his/her residence to another administrative unit after the list is posted, or has been named on the list but is declared by the court to have lost his/her civil act capacity, serve an imprisonment sentence or be deprived of citizens’ rights before or at the time of casting ballots, shall be deleted from the list of voters.

6. The list of voters shall be posted up for 30 days until the date of organizing the distribution of voter opinion polls.

Article 5.Competence for making of and posting up lists of voters for distribution of voter opinion polls; complaints and settlement of complaints about lists of voters

1. Commune-level People’s Committees shall make and post up lists of voters for distribution of voter opinion polls in their localities at the time of opinion collection.

2. Should any error be detected in a list of voters, a citizen may lodge a complaint to the commune-level People’s Committee where such list is made within 10 days from the date the commune-level People’s Committee distributes voter opinion polls. The commune-level People’s Committee making the list of voters shall record such a complaint in a book. Within 3 working days after receiving the complaint, the commune-level People’s Committee shall settle such complaint and notify settlement results to the citizen.

3. In case the citizen disagrees with the complaint settlement results or his/her complaint remains unsettled after the expiration of the time limit for complaint settlement, he/she may initiate a lawsuit at a people’s court in accordance with the law on administrative procedure.

4. For a district-level administrative unit that does not establish commune-level administrative units, the district-level People’s Committee shall make and post up a list of voters and perform other tasks and exercise other powers provided for commune-level People’s Committees in Article 131 of the Law on Organization of Local Administrations and this Decree.

Chapter III

PROVIDING INFORMATION ON AND DISSEMINATING THE COLLECTION OF VOTERS’ OPINIONS

Article 6.Information and dissemination purposes and principles

1. The provision of information about and dissemination of the collection of voters’ opinions aim at providing sufficient and correct information to voters about the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries, of administrative units, so that voters may clearly understand the significance and contents of the collection of opinions and rights, obligations and responsibilities of voters; and encouraging voters to participate actively when competent agencies organize the collection of voters’ opinions.

2. The provision of information about and dissemination of the collection of voters’ opinions shall be carried out in a public, democratic and lawful manner, ensuring social order and safety in localities.

Article 7.Information and dissemination contents

1. The necessity of the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries, of administrative units.

2. Plans on establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries, of administrative units.

3. Subjects and impacts of issues on which opinions are collected.

4. Period of collection of opinions.

5. Rights and obligations of voters in the collection of opinions.

Article 8.Information and dissemination forms

1. Organization of the provision of information about and dissemination of the collection of opinions in the mass media and local information systems in accordance with law.

2. Dissemination at voter conferences organized by commune-level Peoples’ Committees and meetings of villages, hamlets, mountain villages, residential groups, street quarters or blocks (below collectively referred to as villages and residential groups) in communes or wards.

Article 9.Responsibility of agencies and organizations for providing information about and disseminating the collection of voters’ opinions

1. People’s Committees at all levels shall provide information about and disseminate the collection of voters’ opinions on the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries of administrative units in their localities.

2. Local press agencies shall disseminate the collection of voters’ opinions and provide information about the collection of voters’ opinions in accordance with law and under the direction of the Government and Peoples’ Committees at all levels.

Chapter IV

ORDER AND PROCEDURES FOR COLLECTION OF VOTERS’ OPINIONS

Article 10.Form of voter opinion polls

1. Polls on voter opinions on the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries of administrative units at all levels shall be used uniformly nationwide.

2. Voter opinion polls must be clear, easy to understand and have all the contents prescribed in the form of voter opinion poll provided in the Appendix to this Decree.

Article 11.Period of opinion collection

1. For the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries of provincial-level administrative units

a/ After formulating a scheme on establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries, of an administrative unit, the Ministry of Home Affairs shall issue a document enclosed with the form of opinion poll and opinion collection documents for sending to the provincial-level People’s Committees for organization of the collection of voters’ opinions in the province;

b/ Within 5 working days after receiving the document of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall issue a document enclosed with the form of opinion poll and opinion collection documents for sending to district-level People’s Committees for directing and guiding commune-level People’s Committees in organizing the collection of voters’ opinions in districts;

c/ Within 5 working days after receiving the document from the provincial-level People’s Committee, district-level People’s Committees shall issue a document enclosed with the form of opinion poll and opinion collection documents for sending to commune-level People’s Committees for directing and guiding the latter in organizing the collection of voters’ opinions in villages and residential groups;

d/ Within 60 days after receiving the document of district-level Peoples’ Committees, commune-level People’s Committees shall complete the collection of voters’ opinions in accordance with the Law on Organization of Local Administrations and this Decree;

dd/ Within 5 working days after completing the collection of voters’ opinions, commune-level People’s Committees shall summarize collected opinions and make a report on results of the collection of voters’ opinions in their localities for submission to People’s Councils at the same level and district-level People’s Committees.

Within 5 working days after receiving the report on results of the collection of voters’ opinions of subordinate People’s Committees, provincial- and district-level People’s Committees shall summarize and make a report on results of the collection of voters’ opinions in their localities for submission to a competent authority in accordance with the Law on Organization of Local Administrations and this Decree.

2. For the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries of district- or commune-level administrative units

a/ After formulating a scheme on establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries, of an administrative unit, a provincial-level People’s Committee shall issue a document enclosed with the form of opinion poll and opinion collection documents for sending to district-level People’s Committees for directing and guiding commune-level People’s Committees in organizing the collection of voters’ opinions in district-level localities;

b/ Within 5 working days after receiving the document of provincial-level People’s Committees, district-level People’s Committees shall issue a document enclosed with the form of opinion poll and opinion collection documents for sending to commune-level People’s Committees for directing and guiding to the latter in organizing the collection of voters’ opinions in villages and residential groups;

c/ Within 60 days after receiving the document of district-level Peoples’ Committees, commune-level People’s Committees shall organize and complete the collection of voters’ opinions in accordance with the Law on Organization of Local Administrations and this Decree;

d/ Within 5 working days after completing the collection of voters’ opinions, commune-level People’s Committees shall summarize and make a report on results of the collection of voters’ opinions in their localities for submission to same-level People’s Councils and district-level People’s Committees;

Within 5 working days after receiving the report on results of the collection of voters’ opinions of subordinate People’s Committees, provincial- and district-level People’s Committees shall summarize and make a report on results of the collection of voters’ opinions in their localities for submission to the competent authority in accordance with the Law on Organization of Local Administrations and this Decree.

Article 12.Documents serving the collection of opinions

1. The documents serving the collection of opinions include:

a/ The scheme on establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries of an administrative unit;

b/ Summary of the scheme, covering: plan on establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries of an administrative unit; summarized evaluation of the standards of an administrative unit (if any) and the conditions on the establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries of an administrative unit; and the list of documents on policies and orientations of the Party and the State.

2. Documents serving the collection of opinions shall be posted on the portals or websites of provincial-, district- and commune-level People’s Committees (if any); be posted up at the offices of commune-level People’s Committees and places for community activities, and disseminated in the local mass media and at meetings of villages and residential groups during the period of collection of voters’ opinions.

Article 13.Rights and obligations of voters

1. All voters have the rights and obligations to participate in the collection of opinions organized by competent agencies.

2. Every voter has the right to express his/her agreement or disagreement in the poll.

3. Every voter shall write and sign in the poll himself/herself and may not ask another to do so for him/her, except for the case specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

4. In case a voter is illiterate or does not speak Vietnamese or is disabled  and cannot leave a mark or signature in the poll, he/she may ask his/her family members or relatives to do so for him/her.

Article 14.Publication of results of the collection of voters’ opinions on the Government Portal

1. Within 5 working days after making a report on results of the collection of voters’ opinions under Point dd, Clause 1 and Point d, Clause 2, Article 11 of this Decree, a provincial-level People’s Committee shall send such report to the Government Portal for publication.

2. Within 5 working days after receiving a written report of a provincial-level People’s Committee, the Government Portal shall publish such report.

Article 15.Receipt and settlement of petitions on results of the collection of voters’ opinions

1. Should any error in results of the collection of voters’ opinions be detected, citizens and organizations may lodge a complaint to the People’s Committee that has made the report on results of the collection of voters’ opinions. Within 5 working days after receiving the complaint, the People’s Committee shall settle it and notify settlement results to the complainant.

2. In case of detecting an error on results of the collection of voters’ opinions due to the course of summarizing and making a report on results of the collection of voters’ opinions, a People’s Committee shall modify and complete the report for submission to the competent authority in accordance with the Law on Organization of Local Administrations and this Decree.

3. In case of detecting an error in results of the collection of voters’ opinions due to the publication by the Government Portal, a provincial-level People’s Committee shall send a written request for correction to the Government Portal. Within 5 working days after receiving the request, the Government  Portal shall correct the results of the collection of voters’ opinions.

4. In case a complainant disagrees with complaint settlement results or his/her complaint remains unsettled after the expiration of the time limit for complaint settlement, he/she may initiate a lawsuit at a people’s court in accordance with the law on administrative procedure.

Article 16.Funds for the collection of opinions

Funds for the collection of voters’ opinions on schemes on establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries of administrative units shall be provided by the state budget as decentralized by the law on the state budget.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 17.Effect

This Decree takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 18.Organization of implementation

1. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall assist the Government in examining and guiding People’s Committees at all levels in collecting voters’ opinions on schemes on establishment, dissolution, merger, separation or adjustment of boundaries of administrative units on a case-by-case basis.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees and related organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree.-

On behalf of the Government
Prime Minister
NGUYEN XUAN PHUC