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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》High Court rules against Ting over election
Wu E-yang, left, an independent candidate in last year’s Taipei mayoral election, shakes hands with former Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） legislator Ting Shou-chung, right, the KMT’s mayoral candidate, at the High Court in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA
By Jason Pan / Staff reporter
The High Court yesterday upheld an earlier ruling rejecting former Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） legislator Ting Shou-chung’s （丁守中） request to annul the result of last year’s Taipei mayoral election, which Ting lost by more than 3,000 votes.
Yesterday’s verdict was primarily based on Ting’s failure to provide evidence of irregularities at polling stations and of his assertion that providing people lined up to vote more time to cast their ballots would have been sufficient to overturn the victory by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲）.
The verdict settles Ting’s case, as lawsuits contesting election results may only be appealed once.
An initial tally on election day, Nov. 24 last year, showed that Ting lost to Ko by 3,252 votes.
However, Ting demanded a recount, which found that he lost by 3,567 votes, with Ko garnering 580,663 votes, Ting receiving 577,096 and former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Pasuya Yao （姚文智） picking up 244,342, Central Election Commission data showed.
In the first ruling on May 10, the Taipei District Court said that “Ting’s accusations were found to be only minor flaws in the process, which did not affect the final outcome and do not justify annulling the election result.”
After yesterday’s ruling, Ting told reporters that “my litigation on the mayoral election is now finished, but the struggle for Taiwan’s democracy continues.”
Ting had contended that the commission failed to adequately prepare to have multiple ballots for voting on city councilors and other local representatives, as well as 10 referendums, resulting in long lines at more than 1,000 polling stations in Taipei; and that officials extended voting past 4pm, the scheduled time to cut off voting and seal ballot boxes.
As people were allowed to cast their ballots into the evening, many had watched initial tallies and other elections news on their mobile phones while waiting to vote, which Ting said constituted interference in voting procedures and a breach of election law, alleging that some voters changed their ballots leading to his defeat by a slim margin.
While the incidents and “voting irregularities” presented by Ting did indeed occur and there were flaws in the process, “these were deemed insufficient to affect the result of the election,” High Court spokeswoman Tao Ya-chin （陶亞琴） said yesterday.
“In addition, the evidence provided by the plaintiff failed to prove breaches of election law by officials or of undue influence on the outcome,” she said.
Asked for comment, Ko told reporters that as the lawsuit was aimed at officials of the commission and the Taipei Election Commission, “let the election officials comment on the verdict.”
Asked if he was relieved by the decision, Ko said: “I am still at work.”
The verdict also meant that Ting forfeited a NT$4.28 million （US$141,675） bond for the recount.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
