TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — TPP Chair Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Wednesday addressed controversy surrounding a primary survey for New Taipei’s Sanchong and Luzhou districts, saying the party would adhere to its established rules.
The dispute emerged after former Kinmen County Councilor Chou Hsiao-yun (周曉芸) lost the primary to Chen Yen-ting (陳彥廷) and requested a review of the polling results, per ETtoday. TPP Deputy Secretary-General Hsieh Po-hung (謝泊泓) said Tuesday that both candidates had been briefed on the survey details and would discuss how to proceed.
Some TPP supporters criticized Hsieh for not providing a more detailed explanation.
Huang said Hsieh was not authorized to disclose the full contents of the meeting, limiting what he could say publicly, per Tai Sounds. He added that Shih Hsin University, which conducted the poll, attended a meeting with party officials on Tuesday and that the party would take time to determine its next steps.
Huang said he would not personally take part in coordination efforts between Chen and Chou, leaving the matter to the party’s internal mechanisms.
Tai Sounds reported that TPP raised questions during Tuesday’s meeting about the execution of the two-day survey. The TPP reportedly said the sampling success rate on the second day was roughly double that of the first day, and that newly added samples were completed at about four times the rate of the original sample pool.
Shih Hsin University’s explanation reportedly did not fully address the concerns, though Huang said the decision would rest with the party’s election committee. The committee reportedly proposed conducting a new survey, but both candidates rejected the suggestion.
Chou told reporters Tuesday that the original pool of 20,000 samples had a response rate of about 3% on the first day, while 5,000 newly added samples on the second day — which she said were prioritized — had a response rate of 17%, per Newtalk. She said the candidates were unaware of the discrepancies at the time and cited unnamed outside experts who questioned the survey’s validity.
Under TPP rules, the party’s election committee is responsible for certifying survey results. Neither Chou nor the party has identified the outside experts referenced in her remarks.
