UPDATE: 26 11 2022: 5:10 p.m.: According to the National Police Agency, as of 4 p.m., 72 people were involved in 70 incidents that broke the Civil Servants Election And Recall Act.
It said 39 people were involved in 37 incidents of intentionally destroying ballots, or carrying ballots out of polling stations. Also, 24 people brought photography or video recording equipment such as phones into polling stations. Meanwhile, among six people engaged in campaign activities, two caused a commotion within 30 meters of polling stations, and one behaved inappropriately at a polling station and refused to leave.
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As voting continues in Taiwan for the nine-in-one local elections and constitutional referendum on Saturday (Nov. 26), reports have surfaced about voters getting into legal trouble for tearing up ballots.
UDN reported that at around 10:20 a.m., a 67-year-old man surnamed Yen (嚴) tore up his referendum ballot because he did not understand the question printed on it. He claimed that when he asked the election staff at the polling station for an explanation, no one responded.
According to the Referendum Act, “Anyone who places anything other than the referendum ballot into a voting box or intentionally tears up a received ballot shall be fined a sum of not less than NT$5,000 and not more than NT$50,000.”
Another incident occurred in Taoyuan, reported Liberty Times. A 40-year-old Chinese woman surnamed Liao (廖) who had been naturalized mistakenly tore out the columns on the ballots that contained information about her preferred candidates.
Liao, who was a first-time voter, was unfamiliar with the voting process. She was reportedly under the impression that after marking her selection, rather than casting the ballots as complete sheets of paper, she merely had to submit the columns.
Meanwhile, a 42-year-old man surnamed Lin (林) in New Taipei City reportedly had to seek help from election staff members after his ballots tore due to getting wet, per SETNews. The voter who used the polling booth before Lin allegedly dropped rain water onto the table while taking off a raincoat.
It was not confirmed whether Lin received new ballots or would be held responsible.
In another SETNews report, a 79-year-old man surnamed Lin (林) in Taichung tore up his ballots after realizing he erroneously used his own stamp to mark his preferences.
Voters are asked to bring personal stamps bearing their name to polling stations to get their ballots. Election staff members stamp on a list of voters’ names to keep track of who has received ballots.
However, to ensure anonymity when voting, personal stamps cannot be used to mark ballots. All ballots must be marked with stamps with an asymmetrical design provided at polling stations.
The asymmetrical stamp design used in Taiwan's elections ensures voters' choices can be read correctly even if the mark is accidentally transferred onto other parts of the ballot or other ballots. (Taiwan News image)
