Two officials prosecuted for election fraud

Two former officials in central China's Hunan province were prosecuted Tuesday for dereliction of duty in an electoral fraud, local authorities confirmed Wednesday.

The two, Zeng Renzhong and Xiao Bin, both served as Standing Committee members of the Hengyang Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Zeng was organization chief, while Xiao was head of the anti-graft body, sources with the Hunan Provincial People's Procuratorate said.

The provincial procuratorate instituted public prosecution for the two Tuesday.

On Dec. 28, 2013, Hunan provincial legislature disqualified 56 members for buying votes and announced that more than 500 lawmakers in the city of Hengyang had been disqualified, dismissed or had resigned.

An investigation showed the 56 provincial legislators offered 110 million yuan ($18 million) in bribes to 518 municipal lawmakers and another 68 members of staff.

To date, 68 people had been indicted for the electoral fraud, said the provincial procuratorate.