Only 24 percent of eligible voters turned up for referendum
Taiwan News
Date: 2017/10/28
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The island of Kinmen close to China’s Fujian Province
Opponents of casinos thank Kinmen voters. (By Central News Agency)
overwhelmingly rejected the legalization of casino gambling in a referendum Saturday.
The opponents carried the day, with 24,368 voting against casinos and only 2,705 approving of gambling, a ratio of nine to one against, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported. The authorities said there were also 589 invalid ballots.
A total of 114,426 people had the right to vote at 71 polling centers from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday, but the turnout stood at only 24.17 percent.
After the result emerged, the leaders of the “no” camp reiterated their demand for the law which allowed casino gambling on the outer islands to be revoked by the Legislative Yuan. The opponents of casinos included the Kinmen County magistrate, the island’s sole legislator, Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, many religious groups and social movements who feared casinos would bring organized crime, money laundering and prostitution. [FULL STORY]