There are only 11 days left until the local elections. According to the law, no opinion polls can be taken, announced or mentioned publicly in the last ten days of the election campaign. That’s because candidates have used them in the past to mislead voters.
The fine for discussing or releasing election opinion polls during that period is NT$500,000 (about US$16,000) to NT$5 million (about US$160,000). Central Election Commission official Liu I-chou explains:
"Our election laws say 10 days before the election, a period which starts tomorrow, no one can release opinion poll figures related to the election. They cannot be mentioned either. Any releasing or use of such figures will be fined," said Liu.
Liu said in the past, people have used fake opinion poll figures to mislead voters. There have been many cases in the past that have been fined. These include politicians campaigning on behalf of candidates mentioning opinion poll figures and candidates mentioning the numbers during rallies. Candidates have also renewed poll figures on their websites during the banned period.