The National Police Agency (NPA) said yesterday it would dispatch tens of thousands of police officers and volunteers to maintain security during the election today.
NPA Director-General Hou You-yi (
Hou urged the public to obey the law, adding that the agency would not tolerate any violent or illegal action.
The Tainan District Court detained a man named Tsai Chen-chi (
Police said DPP Tainan Councilor Wang Ting-yu's (
Police arrested the suspected caller in Tainan on Thursday night.
Tsai admitted to making the phone call, but said his comments were protected under the freedom of speech, police said.
However, the Tainan District Court ordered Tsai's arrest as his remarks were considered a security threat.
In Taipei, the district Prosecutors' Office said yesterday it had dispatched officials to investigate the two rival camps' allegations of violating the President and Vice President Election and Recall Law (
Officials said the investigation would be conducted after the poll.
Hsieh on Thursday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of using "non-traditional" tricks to buy votes. He said the KMT intended to spend NT$470 million (US$15.3 million) and mobilize at least 200,000 people to ensure its victory.
The KMT filed suit against Hsieh, and the DPP filed a countersuit. Central Election Commission Chairman (CEC) Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) told reporters yesterday that people who send text messages recommending a certain candidate or wear T-shirts bearing a candidate's campaign logo, number or name today may be subject to a fine of between NT$500,000 (US$16,000) and NT$5 million.
Chang made the remarks after an inspection of the central vote-counting center.
"The President and Vice President Election and Recall Law stipulate that there shall be no campaigning on election day," Chang told the press conference.
Other than text messages and T-shirts, hand gestures or verbal recommendation are also prohibited, Chang said.
"The rule applies to the candidates, their parties, their campaign staff and to private individuals," he said.
The CEC refused to comment when asked about campaign T-shirts that do not bear any of the stated features.
But he admitted that it wouldn't be easy to catch those who campaign privately, saying there were certain gray areas.
Chang also reminded all foreign nationals to refrain from campaigning for candidates in public.
"If a candidate invites a foreigner to campaign for him, the candidate will be in violation of the election law and will be fined between NT$500,000 to NT$5 million," Chang said. "If a foreigner gets on a campaign stage uninvited, he or she would be in violation of the Immigration Law (
Chao Kung-chung (
Chang said more than 200,000 staff members across the country to serve over 17 million qualified voters, Chang said.
Voting starts at 8am and ends at 4pm. With the CEC estimating around 75 percent turnout, the final result is likely to be released at around 9:30pm, Chang said.
The official ballot count can be viewed live at vote2008-3.nat.gov.tw.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
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Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
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