Judicial authorities have over the past few days carried out searches and questioned suspects over alleged election irregularities in Keelung and Hsinchu City, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung and Yunlin counties.
Independent Hsinchu City mayoral candidate Huang Yuan-fu (黃源甫) was on Saturday released on NT$100,000 (US$3,125) bail after police searched his office following a tip-off that he was allegedly giving out nasal cleaning devices as gifts to voters, estimated at NT$200 in value.
In Keelung, prosecutors were investigating a complaint that a borough warden candidate surnamed Lin (林) had been allegedly handing out NT$1,000 to people in exchange for their votes.
Photo: CNA
In Yunlin County, a man surnamed Hsu (許), who is running for a township council seat, was on Friday questioned along with his two associates for allegedly handing out health supplement products to residents in exchange for their votes.
Searches were also conducted in Chiayi County’s Dongshi Township (東石) on allegations that a county councilor candidate was handing out NT$1,000 to residents for their votes.
Vote-buying allegations have also been reported in Pingtung and Hualien as well as other counties, with local prosecutors questioning implicated candidates and their alleged “vote brokers.”
The suspects could be charged with contravening the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), and if found guilty, could face prison terms and fines, judicial authorities said.
Separately, the nation’s top judicial officials have ordered district prosecutors’ offices nationwide to set up contact centers to monitor election irregularities.
The contact centers would be open around the clock for people to report vote-buying and other suspected illegal activities.
Taipei Chief Prosecutor Lin Ban-liang (林邦梁) on Friday last week urged members of the public to act as whistle-blowers to ensure that the elections are just and fair, as well as to help law enforcement crack down on criminal groups trying to influence the election results through bribery or intimidation.
The government is to hand out financial rewards of up to NT$10 million to whistle-blowers, depending on the scope of vote-buying, Lin said.
A whistle-blower would receive 25 percent of the reward when a suspect is charged and a further 25 percent on the suspect’s conviction in a first or second ruling.
The remainder of the reward would be paid upon delivery of the final guilty verdict, he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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