50 indicted in China election fraud

Fifty people in central China's Hunan Province have been indicted for their roles in an electoral fraud, the provincial procuratorate said on Monday.

So far, 68 people have been placed under investigation, said the agency.

A total of 409 former officials in Hunan had received disciplinary punishments for the fraud, local authorities said on May 9.

On Dec. 28, Hunan provincial legislature disqualified 56 members for buying votes and announced that more than 500 lawmakers in the city had been disqualified, dismissed or had resigned.

An investigation has shown that the 56 provincial legislators offered 110 million yuan (18 million U.S. dollars) in bribes to 518 municipal lawmakers and another 68 members of staff.