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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at