The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced last night that Chen Shui-bian (
According to official election results provided the CEC, the total number of valid ballots cast yesterday was 12,914,422. The Chen-Lu ticket won 6,471,970 votes, or 50.11 percent of total eligible votes, while the Lien-Soong ticket won 6,442,452 votes, or 49.89 percent of the total.
PHOTO: TANG PIN-CHAO. TAIPEI TIMES
Of the 16,504,179 eligible voters, 13,251,719 cast votes, a turnout of 80.288 percent. The number of invalid ballots was 337,297, or 2.5 percent of the total ballots cast.
"The Chen-Lu ticket has won the 11th Presidential, Vice-Presidential Election," CEC Chairman George Huang (
Chen's margin of victory, 30,598 votes, was much less than in the 2000 presidential election.
In that year Chen won 4,977,697 votes (39.30 percent) to Soong's 4,664,972 (36.84 percent) and Lien's 2,925,513 (23.10 percent).
The results indicate that the pan-blue camp's assumption that Lien and Soong together would win the same number of votes as they won as rivals four years ago was misplaced.
In this year's election, the northern region -- Taipei City, Taipei County, Keelung City, Ilan County, Taoyuan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County -- the Lien-Soong ticket won 54.77 percent to Chen-Lu's 45.23 percent of valid votes.
In Taipei City, the Lien-Soong ticket won 56.53 percent to Chen and Lu's 43.47 percent.
"In the past four years, President Chen has been focusing on the development of all regions except Taipei, while during the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule, Taipei had been the focus of their administration. Therefore, it is not surprising that in this election, the pan-blue camp had a landslide victory in the Taipei regions," said Ku Chung-hwa (
In the Taipei City mayoral election in 2002, KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
The DPP also seemed to make some progress in the Hakka majority areas of Hsinchu county and city, Taoyuan County and Miaoli County.
It has tried to court Hakka voters over the past four years by establishing a Hakka-language television station and reviving Hakka culture and language.
In the 2000 election, the DPP ticket won no more than 37 percent in any of these regions. The Chen-Lu ticket this time won nearly 45 percent in Taoyuan County and Hsinchu County.
The southern region again proved to be the stronghold of the pan-green camp. In Chiayi county and city, Tainan city and county and Kaohsiung City, the Chen-Lu ticket won more than 55 percent of the vote.
"Given the DPP's southern Taiwan grassroots strategy, it is no surprise that the southern region has been the DPP's stronghold," Ku said.
Nantou County, formerly home of the Taiwan Provincial Government and a stronghold of former governor Soong, also became more green.
In the previous presidential election, Soong, running as an independent, won 46.94 percent of total vote to Chen's 34.49 percent. This time, the pan-green camp won 48.75 percent of votes in the county to the pan-blue camp's 51.25 percent, despite criticism from the pan-blue camp of the DPP government's efforts to rebuild the county following the 921 earthquake in 1999.
"In the next four years, the DPP administration should put its emphasis on the reconciliation of different ethnic groups," Ku said.
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
RSS