ELECTION 2024/Overseas nationals must register by Dec. 4 to vote in presidential election: CEC

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Overseas Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan's official name) nationals who want to vote in the Jan. 13 presidential election must first register with the competent household registration office in Taiwan from Sept. 12 to Dec. 4, in the absence of an absentee voting system in the country, the CEC said Tuesday.

Overseas ROC nationals looking to vote in the election are required to register by mail with the household registration office where they last registered their address before moving abroad, CEC Chairperson Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) told a news conference in Taipei where information on the presidential election and rules governing candidates were announced.

To do so, they can download and fill out the application form (https://2020.cec.gov.tw/articleSingle.html?cate=C07&single=A0018#gsc.tab=0) and send it to the competent household registration office, which will then review the application and send the results back to them or to their designated receiver in Taiwan.

ROC nationals living abroad are eligible to vote in the presidential election if they are at least 20 years old, hold an ROC passport and previously had their household information registered in Taiwan for at least six months before moving overseas, CEC Vice Chairperson Chen Chao-chien (陳朝建) added.

Similarly, those who have been stranded abroad for more than two years due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions, resulting in their household registration information being suspended, should consult with the household registration office where that information was registered if they want to return home and vote in the election, Chen said.

The CEC plans to set up 17,794 polling stations nationwide with more than 250,000 security personnel and scrutineers assigned, Lee said.

The polling stations will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to approximately 19.5 million eligible voters, including about 1.03 million first-time voters, Lee said.

Candidates nominated by political parties, or independent candidates who collect enough signatures to qualify as candidates in the presidential election, are required to register to take part in the election from Nov. 20-24, Lee said.

In addition, campaign financing rules stipulate that each presidential candidate and their running mate must not spend more than NT$427.49 million on their campaign, Lee said.

The Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act requires candidates to declare their campaign spending to the Control Yuan, Taiwan's government watchdog, within 30 days after the announcement of the election results.

To ensure that the computerized ballot-counting process yields "no errors," the CEC will conduct three simulations ahead of the election, Lee said.

A "central election command and response center" will be created to deal with any contingencies that may arise on election day and give necessary instructions to local polling stations, Lee said.