Print

Mail

wiki links

Control center opened to root out vote-buying

The Criminal Investigation Bureau has inaugurated a command and control center aimed at stamping out vote-buying days before next Saturday's legislative elections, a bureau official said yesterday.

The inauguration of the center came amid bureau concerns that some legislative candidates might resort to vote-buying or violence, bureau Director Huang Mao-sui (黃茂穗) said.

The bureau has also established three special task forces in northern, central and southern Taiwan as part of its efforts to crack down on vote-buying, Huang said.

He called on the public to report cases of vote-buying or violence related to vote-buying to the police to help combat the illegal practice.

Several civic groups last month called for legislative amendments to toughen punishment for those who buy and sell votes.

The civic groups, including the Taiwan Society, held a news conference last month to highlight their campaign to stamp out vote-buying.

An official from one of the groups said the influence of bribery in Taiwan was far-reaching, and that courts had been lenient in punishing such violations.

The groups hope to raise the penalty for vote-buying from the current prison term of three to 10 years to a minimum penalty of five years imprisonment.
This story has been viewed 1468 times.