The quarantine area in Gò Vấp District has 16 voters in the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils for the 2021-26 tenure on Sunday.  VNS Photo Quang Châu

Gia Lộc

HCM CITY — HCM City’s local authorities are co-operating with health centres and agencies to set up polling sites and finish preparations for the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils for the 2021-26 tenure on Sunday.

According to the city's Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention, as of Friday more than 3,800 people were staying at the city’s quarantine areas and 485 others were isolated at home.

The city authorities said that 3,830 voters are staying in quarantine areas.

Dr Nguyễn Trung Hòa, head of Gò Vấp District Health Centre, said: “Local election teams including one health official will bring a ballot box to houses where voters are quarantined.”

After voters cast their ballots, the box will be sealed and disinfected and then transported by hospital vehicles to voting sites, Hòa said.

As of May 20, 55 people in the district have finished their quarantine time and will go to voting sites in wards where they live.

At the quarantine area in the district’s ward 15, the centre’s health officials have set aside a separate site for the elections, in co-operation with the ward’s election team.

“Sixteen voters at the quarantine area are expected to take part in the election on Sunday (May 23). Each of them will be invited to go down to the election site to keep a safe distance to avoid transmission,” Hòa said.

All pens, papers and other items at the election site will be used only once, he said, adding that chairs and the path to the site will be disinfected.

“All information about the election including biographies of candidates and their action programmes have been provided to voters. The district’s list of candidates was uploaded in the Zalo group for these voters,” he added.         

Preparation for the election has been completed at Củ Chi Field Hospital in Củ Chi District where 19 COVID-19 patients are being treated and 328 people are quarantined.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Trương Đăng Khoa, deputy political commissar of the Military School at the HCM City High Command, said that his unit was collaborating with staff at the field hospital to publish a list of voters and health officials there on Sunday.  

The list of candidates and their action programmes have been published for the voters.

“We are co-operating with relevant agencies to organise the election according to legal regulations, ensuring that quarantined voters and patients can take part in the election,” Khoa added.

Block A1 of SunView Town in Thủ Đức District, where more than 500 households were locked down on May 18. VNS Photo Đinh Hằng

Authorities in lock-downed areas, including some streets and buildings in District 3 and Thủ Đức City, said that district staff members were co-operating with local health officials to organise the elections for voters.

Health officials and staff of election teams will wear protective clothing when they visit areas under lockdown and quarantine areas.

Speaking at a conference held on Tuesday in the city, Nguyễn Thị Lệ, deputy secretary of the HCM City Party Committee and chairwoman of the People’s Council, said that Thủ Đức City and 21 districts had finished preparations for the election.  

Lệ told people’s committee in wards, communes, and towns to create schedules for voting to avoid a large number of voters at the same time at voting sites.

The city has nearly 5.5 million voters and 3,092 election teams.

The Election Commission has issued plans on preventive measures against COVID-19. Plans were made for voting sites; voters quarantined at home; voters in quarantine areas and under lockdown; and health establishments where COVID-19 patients and people suspected of having COVID-19 are being treated.   

If voting sites are under lockdown due to a COVID-19 outbreak, election teams must strengthen disinfection. Attendees must keep a distance of at least 2m between them. The election procedures and times for voting must be arranged at each voting site and residential area.

Voting will take place from 7am to 7pm on May 23. Based on the local situation, election teams can start earlier but not before 5am. They can also end later, but not after 9pm. 

The city Department of Health requires that masks and hand sanitizers should be available at voting sites for voters.

The city has 37 candidates for the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and 158 for the election of People's Council deputies at all levels. VNS