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.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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