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Kinmen official rules out ballot rigging

The large number of invalid ballots cast in the just-concluded presidential election could be attributed to the stringent regulations governing the way invalid ballots are identified, a Kinmen election official said Monday.

In Saturday's presidential poll, 337,297 ballots, or 2.5 percent of the total ballots cast, were counted as invalid. The unprecedented large number of invalid ballots has become one of the "suspicions" the opposition "pan-blue alliance" has raised in its moves to have the election annulled.

Among the country's 25 cities and counties, the frontline island of Kinmen registered the second-highest ratio of invalid ballots in the election, with 3.66 percent, or 1,069, invalid ballots. The highest ratio was recorded in Yunlin County, with 3.99 percent.

Lee Tseng-tsai, secretary-general of the Kinmen County Election Commission, said he believes that the high ratio mainly resulted from a revision to the President and Vice President Election and Recall Law that was passed by the Legislative Yuan last October.

According to the new provision, a vote is valid if the stamp is made in a box above the photo of the candidate. In the past, a ballot was valid if the stamp was made over the candidate's name or his or her ballot number.

Before the March 20 presidential poll, Lee said, the election commission clearly briefed all election staff on the new regulation regarding the identification of invalid ballots.

"I believe that the larger number of invalid ballots was related to this more stringent standard for valid ballots," Lee said, adding that he did not think any election worker would deliberately count a properly stamped valid ballot as invalid.
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