Democratic Progressive Party’s Chen Chi-man has surpassed the threshold to win in Kaohsiung mayoral by-election.
Chen, representing the pro-democracy DPP and backed by incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen, has led the election with over 670,000 votes as of 6.00pm local time, according to official figures the Kaohsiung City election commission.
Votes for Chen have exceeded 70 percent of the voter turnout, meaning that he would be the next mayor of Kaohsiung.
Chen faces two opponents, Wu Yi-jheng of Taiwan People’s Party and Kuomintang’s Li Mei-jhen, in the by-election.
The by-election was held following former Kuomintang mayor Han Kuo-yu’s recall vote in June. Han was the first mayor to be ousted 18 months after he began his four-year term at the end of December in 2018.
The recall vote was called for due to dissatisfactions from citizens of Kaohsiung – Taiwan’s third largest city – that Han resigned less than six months into his mayoral term to stand in the presidential election in January.
In June, more than 928,000 voters of Kaohsiung cast votes in favor to recall Han’s mayoral role, which accounted for 42 percent of the city’s eligible voters. The votes also surpassed the 892,000 votes Han got to win in the mayoral election.
The by-election today ended at 4pm today, with a turnout rate of 45 percent at 5.30pm. Vote counts are still on-going in polling stations.
The sucessor of Kaohsiung mayor will serve Han's remaining term for 2 years and 4 months, till December 2022.
