Vietnam kicks off "biggest ever general election"

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The voting for the 2016-2020 tenure started at 7 a.m. and will be closed at 7 p.m today.

An election place around Hanoi's West Lake this morning.

Leaders from the Party, the current National Assembly and the government were seen casting their votes early in the day.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thang

President Tran Dai Quang. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Hai

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Photo by VGP/Quang Hieu

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

448 of 870 candidates running for a seat in the NA hold a master's or a PhD degree and over 60 percent are male.

Middle-aged candidates make up the majority. Over 60 percent of the contenders are male. Muong is the ethnic minority with the largest number of candidates, 24, followed by Khmer, 19, and Tay, 17.

Candidates with a bachelor's degree account for 43.8 percent, followed by master's and PhD degrees with 33.2 percent and 18.3 percent respectively.

Hanoi and HCMC are the leading places of candidacy, followed by Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. The vast majority of candidates have been centrally nominated.

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