Recall vote on Keelung mayor underway, set to conclude at 4 p.m.

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) The recall vote on Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) began at 8 a.m. Sunday and will run until 4 p.m., with 310,797 eligible voters in the northern Taiwan port city deciding whether the mayor should remain in office.

A total of 283 polling stations have been set up across Keelung's seven administrative districts for voters to cast their ballots, according to the Keelung City Election Commission.

Hsieh, 49, assumed office as Keelung mayor on Dec. 25, 2022. A member of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), he previously served as a three-term legislator representing Keelung from 2005 to 2016.

Under Taiwan's Public Officials Election and Recall Act, the recall vote will pass if the number of valid "agree" votes exceeds the number of "disagree" votes. In addition, the number of "agree" votes must constitute more than a quarter of the total eligible voters in the electoral district.

This means the recall vote requires at least 77,700 valid "agree" votes to pass, the city's election commission said.

A campaign to recall Hsieh was initiated in March 2024 following a dispute over the change in the operator of Keelung E-Square Mall. The campaign also alleges that Hsieh has failed to fulfill his campaign pledges and abused his power.