Elections in Taiwan

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of the Republic of China
Commonly known as Taiwan
Government Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China Original Constitution Law Taxation
Leadership President of the Republic of China President Tsai Ing-wen Vice President Chen Chien-jen
Executive Premier of the Republic of China Premier Lin Chuan Vice Premier Lin Hsi-yao
Legislative Speaker Su Chia-chyuan Deputy Speaker Tsai Chi-chang Ninth Legislative Yuan
Judicial President and Chief Justice Hsu Tzong-li Vice President Tsai Jung-dwen Supreme Court of the Republic of China District Courts
Other branches Examination Yuan President Wu Jin-lin Control Yuan President Chang Po-ya Local governments Administrative divisions Heads
Elections Central Election Commission Chairperson Liu I-chou Presidential elections 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Legislative elections 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2008 2012 2016 Referendums 2004 Jan 2008 Mar 2008
Political parties Nationally represented Democratic Progressive Party Kuomintang New Power Party People First Party Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Others Taiwan Solidarity Union New Party Minkuotang Green Party Taiwan
Related topics Political status of Taiwan One-China policy Chinese Taipei Chinese unification Taiwan independence movement Foreign relations United Nations Japan South Korea Singapore United States Cross-Strait relations Special state-to-state relations One Country on Each Side 1992 Consensus Taiwan consensus 2015 Ma–Xi meeting
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Elections in Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, are held on national and local level. On the national level, the head of state, the President, and all members of the national legislature, the Legislative Yuan, are elected directly by the citizens of Taiwan. National elections were synchronized into a single day from 2012 and are held every four years.

Local self-government bodies including special municipalities, counties, cities, townships, county-controlled cities, indigenous districts and villages have their own elections. The head as well as the legislators of the self-government bodies are all directly elected by the people who have registered their residency in the respective territory. Local elections were synchronized into a single day from 2014 and are held every four years.

Elections are supervised by the Central Election Commission (CEC), an independent agency under the central government, with the municipality, county and city election commissions under its jurisdiction. The minimum voting age is twenty years. Voters must satisfy a four-month residency requirement before being allowed to cast a ballot. ^[1]

History

The government of the Republic of China, led by Kuomintang, retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War with the Communist Party of China. In that time, the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion was enforced and largely restricted many civil and political rights including voting right of the Taiwanese people. In addition, the Martial law in Taiwan also set most actions of oppositions as illegal. From 1949 to 1990, the President was elected by the first National Assembly which had never been reelected since 1948. The Legislative Yuan had also never been reelected since 1947. The provincial Governor and municipal Mayors were appointed by the central government. The direct elections were only held in the local leaders lower than county level, and legislators lower than the provincial level.

From the 1990s, a series of democratic and governmental reforms were implemented in Taiwan. Additional Articles of the Constitution were passed to grant full civil and political rights to the Taiwanese people (officially the people of the Free area of the Republic of China). Under the Additional Articles, the President and the national legislators shall be directly elected. The first congressional elections on Taiwan were held in 1991 for National Assembly and 1992 for Legislative Yuan. The first election for provincial Governors and municipality Mayors was in 1994. Most importantly, Taiwan held the first direct election of the President and Vice President in 1996.

At the same time, the government also undertook to simplify the public sector. The provincial government was streamlined as a subsidiary of the central government in 1998 and no longer holds elections for the Governor and the provincial legislators since then. The regular National Assembly was ceased in 2000 and fully defunct in 2005. The number of members of the Legislative Yuan was reduced to 113 from 2008.

In recent years, the government is further working on synchronizing the date of the elections into two key dates: national elections and local elections.

• The national elections elect the President and Vice President as well as the 113 Legislators.
• The local elections elect 11,130 local officials who serve in self-government bodies.

Types and schedules of election

List of elections by date

The full election list since the first direct election of the President and Vice President.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elections in Taiwan.

• Central Election Commission (Taiwan)
• List of political parties in the Republic of China
• History of the Republic of China
• Politics of the Republic of China
• Administrative divisions of the Republic of China
• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system

References

External links

• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Central Election Commission
• Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Additional Articles of Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

Elections and referendums in Taiwan
Presidential elections	1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
National Assembly elections	1969 1972 1980 1986 1991 1996 2005
Legislative elections	1969 1972 1975 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2008 2012 2016
Municipal and provincial elections	1936 1940 1946 1951 1954 1957 1960 1963 1968 1969 1972 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Local elections	1935 1939 1950 1954 1957 1960 1964 1968 1972 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2014 2018
Referendums	2004 Jan 2008 Mar 2008
See also: Elections in the Republic of China (1912–49)