Vietnamese elect members of parliament from a list of candidates almost exclusively fielded by the governing party.
Published On 15 Mar 202615 Mar 2026
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Voters in Vietnam are casting their ballots for members of the National Assembly, the country’s top legislative body, which serves mainly to ratify decisions by the governing Communist Party.
Nearly 93 percent of the 864 parliamentary candidates in Sunday’s election are Communist Party members, while 7.5 percent are independents, according to the national election council, down from 8.5 percent in 2021.
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The five-yearly elections in the tightly controlled one-party state will see more than 73 million voters elect 500 members of the National Assembly and representatives for local councils.
The Communist Party, which has ruled the Southeast Asian nation of 100 million people unopposed for decades, holds 97 percent of the parliamentary seats.
People look at the lists of candidates at a polling station in Hanoi, March 15, 2026 [Luong Thai Linh/EPA]
Voters expressed hope their representatives would continue modernising Vietnam, whose booming economy is undergoing major reforms introduced by top leader To Lam.
Red-and-yellow banners fluttered from lampposts and traffic lights in the capital, Hanoi, where well-dressed senior citizens were some of the first to vote.
“I do expect top leaders after this election will make major changes to make our country better,” Nguyen Thi Kim, 73, told the AFP news agency at a polling station set up in a community room of a high-rise residential block in Hanoi.
But in a country where major policies and projects are decided by senior cadres, many citizens feel lukewarm about elections. “I don’t think who wins will have any impact on my life,” said a woman, who gave her name as Huyen, in Hanoi.
Most polling stations are scheduled to close at 7pm (12:00 GMT), with results expected on March 23, parliament Chairman Tran Thanh Man told local media.
Voters cast ballots in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 15, 2026 [Hau Dinh/AP]
The opening plenary session of the National Assembly is scheduled for early April, when lawmakers are expected to approve the state’s top leaders previously nominated by the party, including the president and the prime minister.
The party confirmed Lam as its general secretary, Vietnam’s most powerful position, during its five-yearly congress in January, when it also selected the 19 members of the Politburo, its top decision-making body.
After voting on Sunday morning in Hanoi, Lam said on live television that the election aimed “to choose the most prestigious people to continue leading the country to more development”.
First-time voter Nguyen Kim Chi, 18, said she cast her ballot in the capital for “all the young” candidates.
“I know top positions are already set,” she added, “but I still hope my votes count.”
1 of 8 | A National Park Service volunteer etches a name onto paper at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day weekend in Washington, D.C., on May 27, 2023. On March 8, 1965, about 3,500 U.S. Marines landed in Da Nang, South Vietnam. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
March 8 (UPI) — On this date in history:
In 1817, the New York Stock Exchange was established.
In 1913, the Internal Revenue Service began to levy and collect income taxes in the United States.
In 1914, International Women’s Day was observed on March 8 for the first time and would go on to be marked on this day annually. The United Nations began officially celebrating the day in 1977.
In 1921, after Germany failed to make its first war reparation payment, French troops occupied Dusseldorf and other towns on the Ruhr River in Germany’s industrial heartland.
In 1943, Allied planes led by the Royal Air Force bombed the German city of Nuremberg, an important military manufacturing site. By the end of World War II, the vast majority of the city was destroyed by Allied bombings.
In 1957, Egypt reopened the Suez Canal to international traffic after Israel withdrew from occupied Egyptian territory.
File Photo courtesy Imperial War Museum
In 1965, about 3,500 U.S. Marines landed in Da Nang, South Vietnam. It was the first deployment of a large U.S. ground combat unit to the country, marking the United States’s official entry in the Vietnam War.
In 1974, the streaking epidemic that had been gripped parts of the United States appeared to run its logical course.
In 1983, U.S. President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” in a speech before the British House of Commons.
In 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush vetoed legislation that would have outlawed severe interrogation methods such as waterboarding used by the CIA. Bush said the proposal would eliminate “one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror.”
In 2013, former Argentine President Carlos Saul Menem and ex-Defense Minister Oscar Camilion were convicted of smuggling weapons to Croatia and Ecuador.
In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 carrying 239 people vanished over the Indian Ocean en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. A massive search found no sign of the plane and a government statement months later said all aboard — 227 passengers and 12 crew members — “are presumed to have lost their lives.”
In 2022, David Bennett, a 57-year-old man who became the first to receive a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig, died two months after the historic surgery.
In 2024, a U.S. Defense Department report found no evidence that the U.S. government is aware of and concealing the truth about unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UFOs.
Nguyen The Anh, Director of Private & Priority Banking at Techcombank, spoke with Global Finance about the rapid maturation of Vietnam’s wealth management market and the growing importance of preparing next-generation clients and families for long-term succession planning.
Techcombank was named Best Private Bank in Vietnam 2026 by Global Finance, with the award presented at a ceremony held at Claridge’s in London, bringing together leaders from across the global private banking industry.
The recognition reflects Techcombank’s expanding wealth platform and its commitment to supporting Vietnamese entrepreneurs and families as they navigate intergenerational wealth creation, preservation, and transition.
