Taiwan’s Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has set up a task force to combat election-related fraud and violence. The move comes with about five months remaining before the presidential and legislative elections slated for January 16, next year.
Justice Minister Luo Ying-shay spoke at the launch of the task force on Monday. She said that in the past, Taiwan had a high incidence of vote buying and election-related violence. But she said that the situation has gradually improved in recent years.
Luo said that during last year’s nationwide local elections, prosecutors made great strides in combatting electoral fraud.
“A total of 138 people have already been tried in court, and of those cases, 111 election wins were invalidated, while only 27 cases were dismissed," said Luo. "That’s an 80% success rate on the part of prosecutors.”
Luo said that public prosecutors’ offices throughout Taiwan have already set up anti-electoral fraud task forces. She said that the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office will provide them with election laws and test cases to use as reference. She said that prosecutors are also cracking down on new forms of electoral fraud that use the internet.