The Green Party-Social Democratic Party Alliance yesterday said it would not encourage voters to engage in “ballot allocation,” backing away from previous statements.
“We will not actively call for ballot allocation. While we do not have, and will not, recommend a presidential candidate, we will push as hard as we can to rally support for our district candidates and urge voters to support us on the legislators-at-large ballot,” Green Party co-chairman Lee Ken-cheng (李根政) said.
Under ballot allocation, voters are encouraged to strategically distribute their votes to maximize the election of candidates from a similar ideological background.
While traditionally used in multi-seat districts, the strategy was also employed by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) to increase its votes on the legislator-at-large party ballot in the last election, with the party issuing a call for all pan-green voters to allocate at least one legislator-at-large party ballot to the party.
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Chairwoman Fan Yun (范雲) earlier this week used language closely mirroring the TSU’s to call for both pan-green and pan-blue voters to allocate at least one vote to the party.
Her party formed an electoral alliance with the Green Party last year to pool their legislator-at-large votes, increasing the chances that the Alliance slate would cross the 5 percent threshold required to win legislator-at-large seats.
SDP secretary-general Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) yesterday said Fan’s remarks should be interpreted as a general call for votes.
“Vote allocation assumes that you have targeted certain people who are willing to listen to your instructions,” she said. “Our plea is that everyone support a small party which cares for the environment and disadvantaged people.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday called on supporters to vote only for the DPP on their legislator-at-large ballots, with party officials claiming that informal “ballot allocation” was threatening to cut into the party’s “safe” list of legislator-at-large seats.
Both the Alliance and the similar “third force” New Power Party have competed for pan-green support, actively seeking DPP endorsement for district candidates and appearing in events with DPP officials.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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