18 political parties vying for 34 at-large legislative seats: CEC

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/02
By: Lilian Wu

Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) A surge of political parties taking part in the legislative elections have made the ballot for choosing political parties as long as 73 cm long and 15 cm wide, the Central Election Commission (CEC) has said.

The CEC said the 18 political parties vying for 34 at-large seats this year are the most since the “single constituency, two vote” system was first implemented in 2008.

There were 12 political parties vying for at-large seats in 2008 and 11 in 2012.

In the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, each voter will receive three ballots at their polling station, one ballot to vote for president, one to choose a legislator to represent their constituency and a third to choose a political party, which determines how the at-large seats are distributed.     [FULL  STORY]