[4] Originally, 82 people were self-nominated, but of those only 15 were approved by party officials in order to run in the election.

[6] Some pro-democracy and human rights activists were a part of the self-nominated group, who did not receive the required approval.

These included lawyers Le Quoc Quan, a former fellow for the National Endowment for Democracy and Cu Huy Ha Vu and Le Cong Dinh, both sentenced to jail for security and propaganda risks against the state.

Almost all of them had at least a bachelor's degree; 15.6% were from ethnic minorities, 24.4% were women, and 8.4% were not members of the Communist Party.

[10] Non-party members, who managed to gain a seat in the National Assembly, include brother and sister duo Dang Thanh Tam and Dang Thi Hoang Yen from Saigon Investment Group.