ELECTIONS 2022/Some voters tear up ballots at polling stations in Taiwan

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) A number of incidents of people tearing up ballots were reported at polling stations around Taiwan, in addition to some other voting infractions, during the local government elections on Saturday, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.

As of 4 p.m., there were 70 cases of voting violations around the country, involving 72 individuals, as people turned out to elect local government leaders at nine different levels and also to vote on a referendum on raising the voting age in Taiwan, according to the NPA.

Most of them were incidents of people tearing up their ballots or taking them outside the polling station, the NPA said in press release.

At a polling station in Taipei's Neihu district, a female voter said she had torn up her ballot in frustration after she accidentally put her "stamp" against the wrong candidate's name, according to the NPA.

Also in Taipei, an elderly man at a polling station in Beitou said he thought it was permissible to tear up his ballot, as he had no wish to vote for mayor and city councilors, according to the NPA.

Voting violations were also reported in Tainan and Kaohsiung, where some people also tore up ballots, carried their smartphones into the voting booth, or took the ballots out of the polling station, the police agency said.

The reported cases will be investigated by the election commissions in each city, the NPA said, adding that the fines for destruction of ballots range between NT$5,000 (US$161) and NT$50,000, while the penalty for taking ballots out of the polling station is a prison sentence of no more than one year or a NT$15,000 fine.

Taiwanese went to the polls Saturday to elect local government officials in the 22 cities and counties throughout the country and to vote on a referendum on whether to amend the Constitution to lower the voting age from 20 to 18.