People go to the poll on the first General Election Day on January 6, 1946. (Photo: VNA)

Songwriter Nguyen Van Quy, whose penname is Do Quyen, recalled the joyful ambience in Hanoi on that election day. Panels, posters, and banners were ubiquitous on Hanoi’s streets, where revolutionary songs echoed.

“That was a landmark moment for the Vietnamese people. For the first time, Vietnam had a National Assembly, a legislative unit to join forces with the government, the executive unit, to steer Vietnam forward. These functions were new to all Vietnamese people. President Ho Chi Minh asked all election workers to make people understand how important their votes were. Their ballots chose the National Assembly, which set Party guidelines and State policies,” Quy recalled. 

When the election occurred, Kim Xuyen Luong, a Tay ethnic minority living in Ha Giang province, was 19 years old, the minimum age for voting.   

“The nation and the new democratic republic would be complete with the formation of the National Assembly, elected by the people. So everyone was delighted to cast their ballot,” said Luong.

Polling stations were set up at 71 places across Vietnam. Election turnout was as high as 95% in some places. Voters, most of them were illiterate, memorized just enough to mark all by themselves the very first ballot of their life. They shed tears of happiness to be practicing democracy in electing the representatives of the people.