TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On Sunday (Oct. 13), the city of Keelung in northern Taiwan held a recall vote targeting Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), which resulted in the mayor prevailing and maintaining his office.

According to data from the Central Election Commission (CEC), 156,776 people out of 310,797 eligible voters cast a vote on Sunday to either “agree” or “disagree” with the call to remove Hsieh. The majority of voters disagreed with the motion for Hsieh's recall in a vote that split 44.8% to 55.1%, as reported by the CEC.

Those voting in favor of the recall numbered 69,934, falling short of the necessary threshold of 77,000 votes, or one quarter of the electorate. Those voting to keep Hsieh in office numbered 86,014, while 828 ballots were deemed invalid. 

The CEC said in a press release that the ballots will be reviewed over the coming week. The comission will hold a press conference on Oct. 18 to issue an official statement on results. 

The effort to recall Hsieh began gathering steam in March after the Shanhai Citizen’s Movement to Take Down Liang began collecting signatures. Those supporting the campaign cited a land rights scandal and general incompetence as reasons to recall Hsieh. 

Hsieh’s recall marks the second time in recent years that an incumbent mayor of a major Taiwanese city has been subject to a public vote for removal from office under Taiwan’s recall law. In 2020, Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) faced a recall vote and was successfully removed from his position as the mayor of Kaohsiung. 

Some members of the KMT have claimed that the threshold to remove elected officials under the current law is too low. There is an ongoing effort among KMT lawmakers, led by Han Kuo-yu in the Legislative Yuan, to reform Taiwan’s recall law to make it the process more difficult in the future.