The number of overseas Taiwanese registered to cast their vote in the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections has hit a historic low of only 2,317 — the lowest number since the first direct presidential election was held in 1996, government data showed yesterday.
Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Steven Chen (陳士魁) said the reason could be the lack of a heated electoral race.
Statistics from the Central Election Commission (CEC) showed that among 2,425 overseas Taiwanese who registered to vote in the presidential election, 2,317 were confirmed as eligible voters.
The unheated election affects Taiwanese ex-patriots’ level of enthusiasm for returning to Taiwan to vote, Chen said, adding that the highest number of registered overseas voters was recorded in 2004, when nearly 10,000 people returned to vote in the tight election between former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party.
He said Taiwanese in the US accounted for the majority of overseas Taiwanese voters in previous elections, but online messages by them discussing flying back to Taiwan together or seeking information about discount flights have declined this year.
Chen said another possible reason for the low number of registered overseas voters is that an increasing number of descendants of overseas Taiwanese have returned to Taiwan to either work or study.
Meanwhile, the commission yesterday said it has completed testing its computer systems and training of personnel to oversee voting and vote counting across the nation, but to ensure correct vote counting, it will hold three nationwide drills on Monday, Friday and Jan. 15.
Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) heard officials from the commission and the ministries of justice and the interior report on the elections at the Executive Yuan.
After the meeting, Mao said the preparations are entering their final stage, so the commission will thoroughly supervise all local election commissions to uphold the principles of openness, fairness and justice, so that the elections can be completed smoothly.
The CEC said a total of 15,582 polling stations are to be set up across the nation, employing 206,406 people.
The Ministry of Justice said it has established election communication centers at district prosecutors’ offices and set up a 24-hour telephone line (0800-024099) for reporting irregularities and foul-play on election day.
The reward for reporting bribery is NT$15 million (US$453,638) in the presidential election and NT$10 million in the legislative elections, it said, adding that the offices will keep informants’ identities confidential, in line with the regulations.
The Ministry of the Interior said it is to deploy 15,618 police officers and 22,708 support personnel to maintain safety at the polling stations, and is to deploy security service personnel to protect the candidates and maintain safety at their campaign headquarters and public events.
In addition, it said the National Police Administration is to establish an integrated command post with local police stations to maintain public safety during campaign events.
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