Taiwan’s Central Election Commission has announced that registration for presidential, vice presidential and legislative candidates will begin on Monday, and last through Friday.
The commission says that each presidential and vice presidential ticket must pay a security deposit of NT$15 million (about US$460,000). Parties cannot switch their candidates once they have registered.
Meanwhile, each legislative candidate must pay a deposit of NT$200,000 (about US$6,100).
The commission says that the presidential and vice presidential candidates will draw lots on Dec. 14 to determine their order on the ballot, and that the final list will be announced on Dec. 18.
As for televised debates for the presidential and vice presidential candidates – the commission says there will be four in total, including three for the presidential candidates and one for their running mates. The first debate will take place at 8pm on December 25th. The subsequent debates will take place on December 30th, and January 4th and 8th.
Taiwanese voters will head to the polls on January 16th, between 8am and 4pm. Each voter will cast three ballots – one for president and vice president, one for legislators, and one for political parties.
A total of 113 legislative seats are up for grabs, including 73 representing a specific district, six representing aboriginal constituents and overseas compatriots, and 34 legislator-at-large seats. Those at-large seats will be determined by the political party ballot, with parties receiving more than 5% of the total vote being allotted positions based on their percentage of the political party votes they accrue.