Although most polling stations around the country reported an orderly voting day yesterday, there were some incidents and altercations.
In all, 65 violations were reported, with 49 cases of referendum or presidential ballots being torn up and 16 instances where presidential or referendum ballots were carried out of polling stations, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.
Although voters were free to refuse to pick up ballots if they did not wish to vote, defacing ballots or removing them from polling stations are both illegal.
While defacing a presidential ballot may result in a fine of up to NT$50,000 (US$1,500), defacing a referendum ballots may lead to maximum of one year in jail or fines for up to NT$15,000, the agency said.
Among voters who broke the law were former head of the Ministry of the Interior's Construction and Planning Administration Pan Li-men (潘禮門), who tore up his presidential ballot at a polling station in Taipei, as he found he had accidentally selected the wrong candidate.
The 70-year-old Pan was charged with violations of the President and Vice President Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and would be fined, police said.
Meanwhile, Penghu prosecutors arrested Magong Mayor Hsu Lee-ying (楊麗音) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and 73 Penghu residents yesterday on suspicion of involvement in vote-buying.
Hsu was suspected of hiring a boat to transport 73 individuals living in Magong back to their hometown in the county's islets to vote, police said.
The 73 were arrested as they arrived on the islets, while Hsu was arrested in Magong.
Prosecutors said they were in the process of determining if Hsu provided the free trip and asked them to vote for a certain candidate in return.
NPA Director-General Hou You-yi (侯友宜) told a press conference yesterday that more than 60,000 police officers and 30,000 volunteers had been deployed to the nation's 14,401 polling stations.
Amid calm at polling stations, police augmented security at DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) headquarters in the afternoon.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS