Taipei, Oct. 15 (CNA) Penghu residents voted a resounding "no" to allowing casinos in the outlying county in a referendum Saturday.

The referendum was held between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. at 114 polling stations around the county. Forty minutes into vote-counting, there were 10,336 ballots for and 2,843 against.

The gap then widened even further with "no" votes reaching 18,000 shortly after 5 p.m., a higher level of support for the "no" camp than in the first referendum on the opening of casinos held on Sept. 26, 2009.


(Penghu residents watching vote counting)


(Anti-gambling activists announce victory)

(By Chang Che-fon and Lilian Wu)
Enditem/AW