To ensure that today’s presidential and legislative elections proceed in an orderly fashion, people may not canvass for votes for any political party or candidate, including on social media, the Central Election Commission (CEC) reiterated yesterday, adding that offenders would face a fine.
Article 56-2 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) prohibits people on election day from canvassing for votes, distributing election-related flyers, sending text messages, putting up posters, raising flags that bear candidates’ slogans or portraits, broadcasting from campaign vehicles or loitering near polling stations in clothing bearing candidates’ names, the commission said.
Offenders would be reported by polling station supervisors to the commission’s board of supervisors and would face a fine of NT$500,000 to NT$5 million (US$16,656 to US$166,561), with repeat fines possible if offenders refuse to comply, the commission said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
If people hand out water or other beverages to voters on behalf of a candidate or party, they would be stopped by polling supervisors, the commission added.
If people interfere with the voting by becoming violent or attempting to coerce others, polling supervisors would inform the commission to contact the police or a prosecutors’ office, it said.
On election day in 2012, the “Taiwan Cheers, Great!” Facebook page, set up by then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election campaign office, posted a message urging people to vote for Ma, resulting in a NT$500,000 fine from the commission.
Today at the polls, voters are to receive three ballots — a presidential ballot, a regional or Aboriginal legislator ballot and a ballot for a political party, which would determine the legislator-at-large seats.
According to the commission, more than 19.31 million people are eligible to vote today.
A two-month difference in voting residency requirements allows 19,311,105 people to cast their ballots for president, while 1,000 more can do so for the legislator-at-large seats, the commission said.
The election laws stipulate that Republic of China citizens must at some point have resided in Taiwan for a minimum of six consecutive months to be eligible to vote for president, or four months to vote for other civil servants.
Of the nation’s eligible voters, 13.37 million (69 percent) are registered in the six special municipalities: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the commission said.
People aged 40 to 49 make up the largest voting bloc with 3.74 million eligible voters (19 percent), followed by those aged 50 to 59 with 3.63 million, it said.
About 1.18 million 20 to 23-year-olds (6 percent) are eligible to vote in the presidential and legislative elections for the first time, it added.
After the polling stations close at 4pm today, votes for president are to be tallied first, followed by regional/Aboriginal legislator votes, with political party ballots counted last, the commission said.
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