The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday reminded the public that no campaigning is allowed after midnight, with offenders subject to a fine of up to NT$5 million (US$161,786).
A day before voters were set to cast ballots for the heads of cities and counties and other local offices, CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) told a news conference in Taipei that all “public campaigning activities,” such as open rallies, had to end by 10pm yesterday.
No election activities — public or private — would be allowed after midnight, and violators would face fines ranging from NT$500,000 to NT$5 million, Lee said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Given the popularity of social media, CEC Deputy Chairman Chen Chao-chien (陳朝建) reminded people that they are prohibited from displaying on social media profile pictures that deliver an election message after midnight.
Those who do could also be fined up to NT$5 million, Chen said.
In addition to the local elections, voters are to cast their ballots in a referendum to lower the voting age to 18 from 20.
Lee said that anybody other than candidates in the elections would still be allowed to post messages supporting their positions on the referendum today, but information on a candidate cannot be used in any messages on the referendum.
More than 11,000 positions at all levels of local governments will be up for grabs today.
Those eligible to vote can cast ballots from 8am to 4pm. The CEC did not say when the results of the different races would come out, but Lee said the commission would try its best to complete the vote count by the end of today.
There will be 17,649 polling stations across the nation staffed by more than 300,000 election workers to ensure a smooth voting process and the quick counting of ballots, Lee said.
Voters are not allowed to take ballots out of the polling stations or they will face a jail term of up to one year or a fine of up to NT$15,000, Lee said.
A total of 19.13 million Taiwanese are eligible to vote in the elections, including 760,000 first-time voters, while a total of 19.24 million can vote in the referendum, the CEC said.
However, those who tested positive for COVID-19 from Monday onward are not allowed to vote, as they have to isolate for five days.
At a separate news conference, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) estimated that about 65,000 citizens with COVID-19 would not be able to exercise their right to vote due to the five-day isolation mandate.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), head of the CECC, said that while more than 66,000 cases had been reported from Tuesday to yesterday, an estimated 10,000 more cases reported today would bring the total to 80,000 people who would be undergoing five-day isolation on election day.
As about 80 percent of these people have the right to vote, that means about 65,000 would be unable to cast their ballots, Wang said.
Asked if there would be many hidden cases who did not report their condition in order to vote, Wang dispelled the concern, saying that the total number of infections this week is expected to be between 105,000 and 110,000, which is in line with the declining trend so far.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS