Bribery investigation in year-end general election! The Ministry of Justice accepted nearly 1,800 cases of election obstruction, with gifts accounting for the largest number

Local elections are approaching at the end of the year. As of early September, the procuratorial organs have accepted 1,780 cases of election obstruction, including 984 cases of vote bribery, accounting for 55.3%, and 356 cases of gift-giving, which exceeds the number of cash vote purchases by 293 cases. The Ministry of Justice held a press conference today on "Strictly Investigate Election Bribery and Protect Democracy." Minister Zheng Mingqian said that in addition to traditional election bribery, new methods such as electronic payments and the Internet will also be used to investigate inappropriate foreign interference and AI disinformation.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Justice, a total of 1,395 cases of vote bribery were prosecuted against 1,064 people in the last nine-in-one election, and 821 people were found guilty in the final trial; 192 lawsuits were filed to invalidate the election, of which 114 were determined to be invalid. Zheng Mingqian pointed out that vote bribery is still the most important type of election crime at present. The techniques include not only buying votes with cash, but also including gifts, travel and dining receptions. The accepted cases include 161 travel receptions and 118 dining receptions. Although the techniques are constantly changing, as long as interests are used to influence voters' voting intentions, they may violate the law.

In addition, in order to deepen the public's awareness of anti-bribery, the Ministry of Justice has launched a life-oriented, educational and entertaining anti-bribery campaign, and invited weather anchor Lin Jiakai to participate in the filming of an anti-bribery video. Through a warm interaction with the daughter of a first-time investor, he conveyed that a true "election" means not being affected by interests and rejecting bribery. Another promotional video uses a dark humorous tone and is cut from a third-person perspective, revealing that both buying and selling votes are illegal, and those who violate the law will face criminal liability and imprisonment.

Zheng Mingqian reminded the public not to be embarrassed to refuse due to favors such as money, gifts, meals or travel. If you find vote bribery or other illegal activities that hinder the election, you can call 0800-024-099 and press 4 to report. The maximum reward for reporting is 20 million yuan.

Today, the Ministry of Justice jointly held the "Strictly Investigate Election Bribery and Protect Democracy" anti-election bribery press conference in conjunction with the Central Election Commission, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the High Prosecutor's Office, the National Police Agency, the Immigration Department, the Bureau of Investigation, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Procuratorates in various regions also continue to hold election inspection seminars to exchange information with front-line prosecutors and police corruption officers to understand the election situation.