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.
The US House of Representatives yesterday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which stipulates that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican US Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude China from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China
Taiwan’s Li Yu-hsiang performs in the men’s singles figure skating short program at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. Li finished 24th with a score of 72.41 to advance to Saturday’s free skate portion of the event. He is the first Taiwanese to qualify for the free skate of men’s singles figure skating at the Olympics since David Liu in 1992.
Garbage and recycling schedules are to vary from Saturday through Sunday next week over the Lunar New Year holiday period. The following collection information is from the governments of the six special municipalities. Taipei Regular service: Sunday to Monday next week. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Extra service: Friday next week. Regular service resumes: Saturday next week. New Taipei City Extra service: Sunday. Adjusted collection time: Monday next week — garbage collection is to begin in the morning and end at 6pm. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Regular service resumes: Friday next week. Note: Garbage can be dropped off at 70
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
RSS