Thirty-year-old Chen Guoliang was surprised when prison guards asked him to vote in Shanghai's congressional elections.

He had no idea that being in prison did not exclude his voting rights. Chen and his inmates were among over 10 million Shanghai residents who voted yesterday during the elections for the people's congresses at county and town levels.

The Chinese Constitution stipulates that every citizen above the age of 18 has the right to vote and to be elected unless deprived of these rights by law. In Shanghai's Qingpu Prison, 723 prisoners out of 2,700 have the right to vote and all of them voted yesterday.

Before the prisoners started voting at 9:30 AM, Shi Weiping, a prison official, briefed the prisoners about the candidates and read out "every elector must cherish the right to vote and vote for the people you support."

Tally clerks began counting the votes immediately after Chen Guoliang and others voted, writing the results on a blackboard. Prisoners then pocketed their voting certificates and left the polling station.

It was the first time for Zhang Zhihua, 42, to vote in prison. He had voted twice in the reelection of the people's congress of the district where he lived.

"I did not care about election before. However, as a prisoner I found it a solemn right," he said.

Qingpu Prison had prepared for yesterday's voting by raising awareness among prisoners, said warden Wu Qi.

Wu said the voting of prisoners showed political democracy in China. "They were put into prison because they broke the law. However, their legal rights are still protected," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2006)