TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 2022 nine-in-one local elections that will decide local leaders and councilors for the next term and the constitutional referendum that will decide whether Taiwan’s voting age should be lowered to 18, began at 8 a.m. on Saturday (Nov. 26).
The nine elections include mayors and councilors of special municipalities, county magistrates and city mayors, as well as their councilors, township mayors and representatives, special municipalities’ Indigenous district chiefs and representatives, as well as village or borough chiefs. Voting will end at 4 p.m. while ballots are expected to be counted by midnight.
Due to the death of a candidate in Chiayi City on Nov. 2, the city’s mayoral election was postponed to Dec. 18.
President Tsai Ing-wen exits a voting booth. (CNA photo)
Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung speaks to the press after voting. (CNA photo)
This year’s referendum marks the first time a constitutional amendment will be voted on by citizens. The referendum question asks whether voters agree to add an article to the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China that lowers the voting age from 20 to 18 and the minimum candidacy age from 23 to 18.
As the amendment will only pass if over half of eligible voters agree, it means at least 9,619,697 votes must be in favor. If passed, Taiwan’s eligible voters will increase by about 410,000.
In 2018, the voting process was delayed due to the many ballots voters had to cast during the nine-in-one local elections and 10-question referendum, which resulted in the Central Election Commission (CEC) starting a vote count while they were still being cast. The commission did not finish counting votes until early the next morning due to the high workload.
When asked about the CEC’s plan to avoid repeating the chaos, Chair Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said during a press conference the goal is to “finish the day’s work within the day” and finish counting ballots before midnight.
New Taipei City mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung at the polling station. (CNA photo)
Chen Chi-mai, Kaohsiung's current mayor seeking a second term, casts a ballot. (CNA photo)
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen is also hoping for a second term. (CNA photo)
