The number of voters eligible to cast their ballots in January’s elections is up by more than 700,000 from the last election. The addition of these voters brings the size of Taiwan’s electorate close to 19 million.
The latest figures come from a report presented to Premier Mao Chi-kuo at a Cabinet meeting Thursday.
Taiwanese voters will be going to the polls on January 16. Taiwanese voters are given three ballots in general elections. One is used to choose a presidential candidate, and another is used to choose legislators running to represent the voters’ home constituency or aboriginal group.
On the third ballot, voters select a party. These votes go towards other legislative candidates, who are chosen proportionally based on how well their party does overall.
Taiwan’s legislature also reserves a number of seats to represent Taiwanese nationals living overseas. However, Taiwan does not have a system of absentee ballots. Voters must return to Taiwan to vote.
According to the figures presented to the premier on Thursday, only 2,425 overseas Taiwanese have applied to return and vote in the election. This is the lowest number of overseas voters to register in the history of Taiwan’s presidential elections.