Miaoli County prosecutors yesterday said that a commissioner’s election might be overturned if their investigation leads to a conviction in a vote-buying case.
Three people this week were indicted on vote-buying charges in Miaoli amid investigations there and elsewhere into alleged election contraventions in the wake of last month’s nine-in-one polls.
The trio — who prosecutors said had links to Miaoli County commissioner-elect Chung Tung-chin (鍾東錦) — are a woman surnamed Chiu (丘), a man surnamed Lin (林) and a manager of a township-area election campaign surnamed Chen (陳).
Photo: CNA
Chung, who was speaker of the Miaoli County Council while a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), ran as an independent in the Nov. 26 election, which he won with 42.66 percent of the vote.
“Chen headed Chung’s campaign team in Miaoli’s Dahu Township (大湖) and also worked for Fu Song-lin (傅松琳), a candidate for township mayor,” prosecutors said.
Fu, also an independent candidate, did not win his election. He supported Chung in the commissioner election after both quit the KMT before announcing their candidacies.
Miaoli County lead prosecutor Chuang Chia-wei (莊佳瑋) said that there was sufficient evidence to keep Chen and Chiu in custody, while Lin was released on NT$50,000 bail.
“The investigation indicates that the trio gave people NT$2,000 each to vote for Chung and Fu, as well as other candidates,” a court filing said.
Chen gave bundles of cash to Chiu and Lin, who conducted the alleged vote-buying, the filing said.
“One resident surnamed Chang (張) received NT$10,000 from Chen and Chiu because he promised the two that he would vote for Chung, Fu, a candidate for village warden and two township representative candidates,” Chuang said.
Another resident received NT$4,000 to cast ballots for four candidates, including Chung and Fu, he said.
Chung on Friday denied knowledge of the alleged vote-buying.
“In the run-up to the elections, we pledged a clean campaign,” he said. “Any illegal activities were organized by Chen and our campaign team had nothing to do with it.”
“We have been tainted by Chen’s activities, which he undertook of his own accord,” Chung said.
Miaoli prosecutors have unfairly released information during an ongoing investigation to falsely accuse the commissioner-elect of buying votes, Chung’s office said, adding that it would sue any party that tries to link Chung to the charges.
Prosecutors said that they would adhere to the law and follow correct judicial procedures.
If there is a conviction, it might instigate proceedings to invalidate election results that were affected, they said.
Election rules say a motion to invalidate an election must be filled within one month of official notification of the results, unless there are extraneous circumstances.
Elsewhere, prosecutors in Taoyuan yesterday questioned a person surnamed Chang (張) after reports that people were treated to banquets at which votes were solicited.
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
FATE UNKNOWN: The owner of the dog could face a fine of up to NT$150,000 and the animal could be euthanized if he cannot show that he can effectively supervise it A pit bull terrier has been confiscated by authorities after it yesterday morning bit a motorcyclist in Taipei, following footage of the same dog in a similar attack going viral online earlier this month. When the owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), stopped at a red light on Daan District’s (大安) Wolong Street at 8am, the dog, named “Lucky,” allegedly rolled down the automatic window of the pickup truck they were riding in, leapt out of the rear passenger window and attacked a motorcyclist behind them, Taipei’s Daan District Police Precinct said. The dog clamped down on the man’s leg and only let go
RSS