Allegations of bribery and vote rigging in a village election in Changping district has led to the rescheduling of polling and claims of widespread cheating in the pursuit of positions that can be worth millions of yuan to those elected.

The row flared in Dongxiaokou, Changping district, after a vote on June 5. Many villagers claimed the incumbent director of the village had shipped in people from other villages to vote for him.

The election was declared null and void and a new one has been slated for the beginning of July.

Villagers in Dongxiaokou complained that the number of votes cast in the June 5 poll exceeded the number of residents in the village.

"The current director tried to manipulate the election," said a villager surnamed Qiao.

She said Li Fengqing had been in office at the head of the village for nine years, since gaining office in 2001.

Qiao had been among workers at polling stations on election day and said many strangers voted that day. It later turned out that 300 people had allegedly traveled from other villages to vote in the village that only had around 1,200 registered voters in the previous election.

"He must have given some favors to the 300 people to do that," added fellow villager Hu Delu, who had been one of the three candidates vying for Li's job.

According to Qiao, the mysterious strangers were all registered as residents in her village but, when police checked up on them, most of the house numbers they gave did not exist.

This year, in Dongxiaokou village, the position of village director is especially important because large-scale demolition is slated for the area.

"The director will have quite a say on the compensation offered as a result of the demolition," Hu said. "Which means a lot of money."

Villagers claimed Li sent expensive gifts to more than 80 percent of the Party members living in the village, who typically have an important role in village politics. The gifts included famous-brand wines, cigarettes, tea and even cash.

"We estimate that those gifts were worth 300,000 to 400,000 yuan," Qiao said, "If he is not earning money that he does not deserve, how can he afford these things?"

Three or four villagers said they had taken photos of the gifts and would send them to the county government. They claimed Li heard about their actions and tried to pressure them not to send the photos.

On paper, a village director's salary is only 600 yuan a month. Directors also receive a yearly subsidy of 16,000 yuan.

While many villagers expressed outrage at the revelations, a former village committee member said he was already used to such shenanigans. The member refused to release his name, but said under-the-table practices are common during village elections.

"But in this case, they were doing it too obviously," he said. "In some rich villages, candidates may pay up to 500 or even 1,000 yuan to buy a single vote; since, once he is elected, he can get a lot of gray income, which can be worth millions."

Zhou Xiaozheng, director of the Institute of Law Sociology at Renmin University of China, said such polls are not well monitored.

"The lack of supervision is the main problem in the election," said Zhou, who added that corruption can happen wherever there is potential gain.

"Under-the-table practices are common but we need to find a proper way to restrain them," Zhou said.

Li issued a statement on June 28 to the Beijing Times saying he had nothing to do with the 300 strangers and had not asked them to vote for him.

The county government is investigating the situation. At this moment, Li is still set to stand as a candidate in the rescheduled election.