President Chen Shui-bian (
The DPP's vote-allocation system, which aims to spread votes evenly between candidates and therefore maximize the number of seats won, involves requesting supporters to vote for specific candidates in multi-member constituencies in a methodical way.
Vote-allocation systems have proved effective for both the DPP and the New Party in past legislative elections.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Vote allocation requires candidates to avoid emphasizing themselves over other candidates from their party and asks voters to ignore their personal preferences for any candidate but the party's designee.
Chen attended a press conference held by his former aide, Lo Wen-chia (
"I appreciate all of my supporters, but I would like to appeal to them to vote for the candidates they are assigned to vote for," Lo said.
The DPP nominated five candidates in each of Taipei's two constituencies this year, but the party started worrying about whether the 10 can all be elected since polls have shown that only five to seven candidates are receiving enough support to get elected.
Chen, however, believes that vote-allocation will make a difference.
"The DPP has a stable constituency in Taipei. If we practice vote-allocation correctly, the 10 nominees in Taipei City will all be elected," Chen said at the press conference.
The DPP officially announced the vote-allocation policy in Taipei's two constituencies on Nov. 13, followed by the same announcement in other areas of the country. The policy, though, has caused disputes between the party's nominees, because most of them are afraid that distributing votes to other candidates would result in a loss for themselves.
"I am afraid I will not receive enough votes to win the election. How can I allocate my support to other candidates?" said Mark Chen (
In a reaction to arguments from the party's candidates, DPP secretary-general Wu Nai-jen (
"The DPP's supporters would like to see the party win the majority," Wu said.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday vowed to investigate claims made in a YouTube video about China’s efforts to politically influence young Taiwanese and encourage them to apply for Chinese ID cards. The council’s comments follow Saturday’s release of a video by Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) and YouTuber “Pa Chiung (八炯)” on China’s “united front” tactics. It is the second video on the subject the pair have released this month. In the video, Chen visits the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province and the Strait Herald news platform in Xiamen, China. The Strait Herald — owned by newspaper
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
CORRUPTION: Twelve other people were convicted on charges related to giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one to five years The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption, sentencing her to 12 years and six months in prison. The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022 indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner. Lin was accused of giving illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to conduct activities linked to the 2020 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential and legislative election campaigns. Those favors included exempting some property and construction firms from land taxes and building code contraventions that would have required
RSS