Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) Voters in Taiwan headed to the polls Saturday to choose a new president and vice president as well as the legislators who will represent them over the next four years.
The 17,795 polling stations around Taiwan opened at 8 a.m., and voters will be able to cast their votes until 4 p.m., when election workers at each station will begin counting the votes.
According to the Central Election Commission, 19.55 million people from Taiwan’s population of 23.4 million are eligible to vote this year, including around 1.028 million first-time voters.
Most voters will cast three votes — one for the president; one for either a district legislator, a mountain Indigenous peoples legislator, or a plains Indigenous peoples legislator; and one for a political party, which will determine how the 34 at-large seats in the 113-seat Legislature are allocated.
▶ Warmer weather forecast for election day, mercury could hit 26 degrees
▶ Polls open for presidential, legislative elections
▶ 2024 Taiwan vice presidential TV debate
▶ 2024 Taiwan presidential TV debate
In the three-horse presidential race, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominated Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) as its candidate, and his running mate is Taiwan’s former representative to the United States Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴).
New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) is representing the Kuomintang (KMT) in his bid for the presidency and has teamed up with politician-turned-broadcaster Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康).
Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the founder and chairman of the 4-year-old Taiwan’s People’s Party (TPP), is the third candidate, and his running mate is TPP Legislator-at-Large Wu Hsin-ying (吳欣盈).
Only four of the 16 parties vying for political party votes have sitting lawmakers in the Legislature — the DPP, KMT, TPP and the New Power Party.
The TPP and New Power Party only hold at-large seats.
The newly elected lawmakers will begin their four-year terms on Feb. 1, while the president-elect and vice president-elect will be sworn in on May 20.
CNA will provide live election coverage throughout Saturday and live streaming of the Central Election Commission’s vote counting operations from 4 p.m.
