The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) yesterday filed an application with the Taipei District Court to have the ballots from Saturday’s Taipei mayoral election sealed and was expected to file a lawsuit to have the vote annulled after losing the mayoral race to Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
The election was held alongside 10 referendums at 1,563 polling stations citywide from 8am to 7:46pm, but the ballot counting in the neck-and-neck race lasted for more than 10 hours until 2:35am yesterday.
In the five-way race, Ko garnered 580,820 votes, or 41.05 percent of the votes cast, against Ting’s 577,566 votes (40.82 percent).
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Pasuya Yao (姚文智) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) received 244,641 votes, or 17.29 percent.
Ting, who lost to Ko by 3,254 votes, arrived at the court with his lawyer at about 3:15am yesterday.
At about 6am, the court issued a ruling requiring him to pay a deposit of NT$4.3 million (US$139,150) within 24 hours.
According to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), the applicant must pay a deposit of NT$3 per vote for a recount, the court said, adding that 1,427,643 votes were cast in the Taipei mayoral election.
Ting’s application would be rejected if he does not make the deposit, it said.
Ting told reporters in front of the court that he believes there were major illegalities in the voting and counting process.
Taipei was the only city in this year’s elections where the “dump-save effect” could have occurred, he said, referring to strategic voting by the public to sacrifice one candidate for another in the event of a tight race between multiple — usually three — candidates.
Candidates were barred from releasing polls 10 days before the elections to prevent influencing voters and campaigning was not allowed on election day, he said.
Despite the measures, vote counting took place for three hours and 46 minutes as ballots were still being cast on Saturday, he said, adding that no other country in the world would allow this to happen.
Ting also questioned the counting process, which he said took more than nine hours and was paused several times.
New Taipei City has a bigger population than Taipei, but its counting process was faster, he said.
Ting said he suspects the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the Taipei City Election Commission conspired to bring forth the “dump-save effect” in the city, insinuating that pan-green camp voters “sacrificed” Yao to elect Ko, an independent.
It was a “dirty trick” played by the DPP, he added.
Ting said his next step would be to file a lawsuit to invalidate the election.
The CEC and Ko said they respect Ting’s decision.
If Ting emerges as victor in the recount, the court would return his deposit, but he would forfeit the money if he loses the recount, according to the act.
The act also requires that the local government cover the expenses of the recount.
Lawyer Lin Chih-chun (林智群) said that if the KMT claims that simultaneous voting and vote-counting would affect the results of the election, then it should file lawsuits to invalidate all of the elections in the cities and counties where that was the case.
Voting and counting also happened simultaneously in New Taipei City, Taichung and Kaohsiung, cities in which the KMT won, he said.
Ting’s legal team said that alleged illegalities in Taipei were enough to influence the results of the election, adding that the “dump-save effect” only happened in Taipei.
Additional reporting by Chung Hung-liang and CNA
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is