Ahead of tomorrow’s elections, local prosecutors have been busy investigating allegations of vote-buying, with as many as 26 people in Changhua County detained for the crime.
In Beidou Township (北斗), Changhua County, district prosecutors detained a couple surnamed Lin (林) for attempting to buy votes for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) township chief candidate Lee Shun-ming (李順銘) at NT$500 per vote.
Prosecutors also detained Lee’s son, Lee Hsuan-tsai (李玄在), who was accused of instructing supporters to buy votes on behalf of his father. Lee Hsuan-tsai denied the accusations, but the district court ruled in favor of prosecutors’ request to detain him, citing fear that he would collude with witnesses. Lee Shun-ming, who has also been accused of vote-buying, made bail at NT$200,000.
PHOTO: CNA
Penghu District prosecutors yesterday charged Lin Hsiu-ching (林秀卿), wife of Penghu County councilor candidate Cheng Wan-kuan (成萬貫), and others with vote-buying. Prosecutors allege that Lin gave cash to several co-defendants and instructed them to vote for her husband.
Prosecutors said more than 100 vote-buying cases were under investigation by district prosecutors, and that the votes in Penghu County have been “priced” anywhere from NT$1,000 to NT$10,000.
In Miaoli County, prosecutors detained Hu Lee-nan (胡立南), husband of Touwu Township (頭屋) chief candidate Hsu Yueh-lan (徐月蘭), on vote-buying charges. The district prosecutors’ office has already issued indictments to five local candidates, two of whom made bail. Hundreds of other vote-buying cases in the region are currently under investigation, with votes allegedly fetching between NT$500 and NT$3000.
In Hualien County, prosecutors yesterday questioned more than 30 people, including Guangfu Township (光復鄉) chief candidate Huang Rong-cheng (黃榮成), who is the only remaining candidate from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the county currently not in detention. Prosecutors requested that the court detain Huang.
However, the district court set the bail for Huang at NT$100,000. Prosecutors have filed an appeal of that ruling.
The other two township chief candidates from the KMT — Chen Wen-kuang (陳文光) and Lin Yuan-jui (林元瑞) — are in detention for allegedly buying votes at NT$1,000 each.
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