The National Police Agency (NPA) yesterday ordered police departments nationwide to be on high alert to protect, escort and store ballots following an incident in Chiayi County’s Shueishang Township (水上) on Sunday.
A Shueishang Township Office official surnamed Hou (侯) reportedly tried to walk out of the Lantan Printing Factory with 333 extra ballots, police said.
He had 19 additional ballots for county commissioner, 13 for county councilors from the first constituency, 100 each for Sanhe (三和), Lioulin (柳林) and Yising (義興) villages, and one for Jinghe Village (靖和), the report said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
An on-site police task force and the Chiayi County Electoral Oversight Committee determined that Hou’s actions were not deliberate and the excess ballots were shredded, police said.
However, the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office instructed the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s Chiayi branch to summon Hou to make a statement, after which the case was forwarded to the office.
Police have been dispatched to safeguard the printing, storage and transport of all ballots, the NPA said in a statement.
The agency has collaborated with local election committees to install additional surveillance and lighting equipment, as well as fire extinguishers, it said.
Police have set up surveillance cameras to ensure that ballots remain secure around-the-clock, the agency said.
NPA Director-General Chen Ja-chin (陳家欽) ordered all police departments to be on heightened alert.
Security measures, such as enforcing curfew hours, checking cameras, patrolling and signing in at checkpoints, should be strictly observed, Chen said.
Identity checks at all the gates of all the factories printing ballots or storage facilities are mandatory and people are not allowed to bring bags onto the premises, Chen added.
The Central Election Commission yesterday said that ballot inspection processes, regardless of which committee is inspecting, are standardized and should be adhered to.
People who enter printing factories must be searched by police, it said.
Any person suspected of taking ballots out of storage or printing facilities should be stopped, and the incident should be reported to the ranking officer on the site and submitted to the local electoral committee, the commission added.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
RSS