Taipei City's two constituencies yesterday became the first areas targeted by the DPP in its drive to achieve an even distribution of votes among its candidates in the Dec. 1 elections. The move comes after the party's secretary-general announced last week that it intended to adopt the strategy across the nation.
The DPP's hope is to maximize the chance of all the party's candidates getting elected. It targets all known party supporters in an area and has proven effective for both the DPP and the New Party in past legislative elections. The DPP's northern district general director Lin Cho-shui (
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The party estimates that a low voter turnout, combined with an unusually large number of candidates, will make for thin margins in the number of votes received per candidate. It believes that seeking a relatively even distribution of votes will help each of its candidates to receive a specific minimum number of votes.
Vote allocation -- the system used by the DPP -- involves requesting known individual supporters to vote for specific individual candidates.
According to a DPP survey, between 30 and 40 percent of the party's supporters are prepared to vote for the candidate for whom the party instructs them to vote. The party calculates that, given this survey result, each nominated candidate in Taipei's northern district is guaranteed 15,000 votes. It also estimates that a candidate would need to secure 34,000 votes to win election to the legislature.
The party said it will ask supporters to vote for different candidates depending on the supporter's national identity card number.
For instance, voters in Taipei City's northern district whose ID card numbers end in "one" or "two" are asked to vote for Lan Shih-tsung (
"Allocating votes will help to push individual candidates past the margin necessary for election," Lin said.
Julian Kuo (
"Whether the strategy proves effective will depend on whether voters have more faith in party politics than they do in individual candidates, and the degree of cooperation among the party's candidates in each individual constituency," Kuo said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS