100. NFRB, Feb. 24, 1980, states that the elections for brigade cadres in Huilong commune, Gaoyao County, held in Oct. 1979 were only the second time that these leaders had been democratically elected. Previously brigade cadres were all appointed by upper levels. Although sometimes “elections” were held, they were little more than formalities.
1988, John P. Burns, Political Participation in Rural China, University of California Press, page 218