A total of 19,695 candidates have registered for 11,051 positions in the nine-in-one local elections set for Nov. 28, including 26 from China who are naturalized Taiwanese nationals, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Michael You (游盈隆) said yesterday.
The CEC and local election commissions are scheduled to complete candidate eligibility reviews by Oct. 16 and draw numbers for eligible candidates on Oct. 23, You told a news conference in Taipei.
Candidate registration closed on Friday.
Photo: Taipei Times
Compared with the 2022 local elections, the total number of candidates decreased slightly by 130, while the number of Chinese-born candidates increased by seven, You said.
However, the changes are in line with long-term trends observed since the first nine-in-one local elections in 2014, indicating stable political engagement over the past 12 years, he said.
Of the 26 Chinese-born candidates, two are running for the position of councilor in the six special municipalities, two for county councilor, one for township mayor, two for township councilor and 19 for borough wardens, he said.
In response to questions about a person who registered as a candidate despite having relinquished their Taiwanese household registration and National Health Insurance and having lived in China for an extended period, You said the eligibility of all candidates would be determined based on the law.
Meanwhile, a national referendum on whether the government should abolish its nuclear-free homeland policy would be held alongside the local elections after being approved by the opposition-led legislature. The referendum was approved by the CEC on Aug. 28.
The commission rejected two other referendum proposals approved by the legislature: one seeking to introduce caning as a criminal punishment and another proposing that traffic fines be used to improve road safety.
You previously said that the two proposals did not fall within the scope of matters that can be put to a referendum under Article 2 of the Referendum Act (公民投票法).
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