The Central Election Commission (CEC) has made public a notice for the election of mayors, councilors and ward chiefs in Taipei City and four soon-to-be established special municipalities.
According to the election notice, the three-in-one poll will be held simultaneously from 8am to 4pm on Nov. 27 in Taipei City, Sinbei City (currently Taipei County), Greater Taichung (a merger of Taichung City with Taichung County), Greater Tainan (a merger of Tainan City with Tainan County) and Greater Kaohsiung (a merger of Kaohsiung City with Kaohsiung County).
Voters who move now from one district to another in the same constituency will not be eligible to vote in the election for city councilors, CEC Chairman Rai Hau-min (賴浩敏) said.
However, those who have lived in the same constituency for more than four months will be entitled to cast ballots in the three polls, he said.
A mayor will be elected in each of the five special municipalities, while 62 councilors will be chosen in Taipei City, 66 in Sinbei City, 63 in Greater Taichung, 57 in Greater Tainan and 66 in Greater Kaohsiung.
According to the election bulletin, campaign spending by Taipei mayoral candidates has been set at a maximum of NT$86.45 million (US$2.7 million) each. In Sinbei, the ceiling is NT$144 million, in Greater Taichung NT$86.96 million, in Greater Tainan NT$76.24 million and in Greater Kaohsiung NT$88.8 million.
The CEC will accept candidacy registrations from Sept. 13 to Sept. 17, and a draw will be held to decide candidates’ ballot numbers on Oct. 29, the election bulletin said.
Mayoral candidates will be allowed to give campaign speeches from Nov. 12 to Nov. 26, while for city councilors, the dates are Nov. 17 to Nov. 26.
Meanwhile, anti-vote buying task forces were set up under the auspices of seven local prosecutor’s offices nationwide, with Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) vowing to stamp out irregularities in the upcoming elections.
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