Jaw Shau-kong given suspended sentence over display of marked ballot

Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) Media personality and politician Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康) has been given a suspended sentence on charges related to his display of a marked ballot during a recall vote last July.

In a ruling issued Tuesday morning, the Taipei District Court sentenced Jaw to 55 days in prison, commutable to a fine and suspended for two years, for violations of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act.

Jaw must also pay a fine of NT$50,000 (US$1,581) under the ruling, which can be appealed.

The court has yet to release the full ruling explaining how it determined Jaw's guilt and decided on a sentence.

Jaw, a former Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker and government minister, was indicted by Taipei prosecutors in November for displaying his marked ballot to members of the media at a polling station in Taipei's Daan District.

He was casting a ballot in one of several votes on July 26, 2025, that sought to recall various KMT lawmakers and one city mayor. None of the recall initiatives succeeded.

In the indictment, prosecutors said Jaw had been warned by election workers not to show his marked ballot, but he went ahead and displayed it briefly so it could be photographed by the media, before dropping it into the ballot box.

The public display of a marked ballot is a violation of Taiwan's election laws and carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison or a fine of up to NT$200,000, prosecutors said, citing Articles 88 and 105 of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act.

Jaw's actions at the polling station were reported to the police, and on Sept. 23, he was summoned for questioning.

He later apologized and told reporters that he had displayed his ballot merely to show that he had voted but not to display his vote. He said the case was a needless hassle and a waste of judicial resources.

Jaw, a former chairman of Taiwan's Broadcasting Corporation of China, served as a KMT lawmaker and as environmental minister from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.

Over the years, he has remained a prominent voice in Taiwan's media and politics, and he ran unsuccessfully on the KMT ticket for vice president in 2024.