About 1.02 million first-time voters are eligible to cast their ballots for president today, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said yesterday as it issued a reminder on election-day rules.
A total of 19,548,531 people would be eligible to cast their ballots for president, with an additional 17,476 eligible to do so for legislators-at-large, due to a two-month difference in the residency requirements for the elections, the CEC said.
Campaigning of any kind was prohibited from midnight, including sharing content on messaging apps such as Line and social media such as Facebook in support of a candidate or party, CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said.
Photo: AP
Offenders would face a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$1 million (US$3,212 to US$32,124), while political parties, candidates or their agents who contravene the regulation would face a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$2 million, Lee said.
On election day today, people should bring their national ID card, name stamp and election notice to the polling station listed on the notice, he said.
They should be quiet at the polling site and not engage in activities that might influence or prevent voting within 30m of the site, he said.
People who are noisy or engage in other activities that might influence voting behavior would face a penalty of up to one year in prison commutable to a NT$15,000 fine if they refuse to comply with orders from security at the polling site, Lee said.
People should use the markers provided at the voting site to indicate their preferred candidates on the ballot and should not use a stamp, which would invalidate the ballot paper, he said.
Recording devices are not allowed in polling booths, except for communications devices that have been switched off, he said, adding that breaching the regulation is punishable by a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000.
Destruction of a ballot is punishable by a NT$5,000 to NT$50,000 fine, he said.
Taking a ballot offsite is punishable by a one-year prison sentence, commutable to a fine of up to NT$15,000, Lee said.
The CEC has arranged 240,000 election workers at 17,795 polling stations, he said.
The tallying process is transparent and governed by strict rules to ensure fairness, he said, adding that monitors were selected by the parties with presidential candidates.
Election workers must strictly follow the procedures for counting votes, he added.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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