Legislative elections were held in Vietnam on 15 March 2026. Early elections were held in the islands of the South Central Coast, Mekong Delta and Southeast regions from 26 February 2026.
This election has elected the 16th National Assembly of Vietnam, which would eventually appoint Trần Thanh Mẫn as the National Assembly Chairman, Tô Lâm as President, Lê Minh Hưng as the Prime Minister alongside his cabinet, constituting the Vietnamese 2026–2031 administration.
The results were announced on 21 March 2026, paving the way for the 16th National Assembly's inaugural session, which convened on 6 April 2026.
Electoral system
The members of the National Assembly are elected from 184 multi-member constituencies using the two-round system, with a maximum number of 500 candidates to be elected. Block voting is used, with each district having two or three seats. Candidates have to receive at least 50% of the vote in the first round to be elected, with a second round held on a plurality basis.
Background
All participating candidates and elected members are expected to be nominal members of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front. Meanwhile, for the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the incumbent General Secretary of the Central Committee was Tô Lâm. After multiple rumors and speculations, the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam ultimately confirmed Tô Lâm to stay as the Party General Secretary for the next term, alongside the new Central Committee and Politburo, effectively platforming the Vietnamese political orientation for the 2026–2031 term.
Candidates
A total of 864 candidates from 182 constituencies contested for 500 seats in the election. Of these, nearly 93% were members of the CPV, while 7.5% were independents; five candidates were self-nominated.
Response
On 19 March 2026, independent journalist Nguyễn Hoàng Vi was arrested, detained and beaten by police officers after posting critical comments about the legitimacy of the election on social media.