2016 Mongolian Parliamentary Election Wednesday June 29,2016

The 2016 Mongolian Parliamentary Election is scheduled to be held on Wednesday June 29,2016 for their seventh national election since transitioning from state socialism to democracy in 1990

With a population of about 3 million spread over more than 1.5 million square kilometres, Mongolia has the lowest population density of any country in the world.

That's great for herders, who count on access to the country's vast steppe to feed their animals, but hard for people trying to get to the polls.

So, the government has taken great pains to make sure everyone has the chance to vote.

A number of Mongolia's 21 provinces have set up gers, traditional Mongolian homes also known as yurts, in strategic locations around the countryside.

Voting is done by "black box", an optical scanning machine that transmits results from even the farthest reaches of the Gobi desert to election committees, who then report to the central government by phone.

Once the preliminary count is in, administrators collect the ballots and verify 50 percent by hand, with final tallies announced on July 01,2016

For the elderly or sick, mobile polling stations roam the country, letting people vote from the comfort of their own home.

Who Are The Major Players?

Mongolia's ruling Democratic Party (DP) is pitted against its rival the Mongolian People's Party (MPP).

The DP put Mongolia on its current democratic path, but the MPP, a leftover from the Soviet era, still commands strong loyalty from older voters with fond memories of socialist rule.

Both parties have their partisans, but many Mongolians see little difference between the two. Voters hoping for a fresh approach to government have few options.

While the 2012 election featured candidates from a range of political parties, the country's constitutional court changed the election rules in May 2016, moving it from proportional representation to a plurality-based system, essentially eliminating third parties. Still, there are a few other small parties and around 70 independents