Ballot boxes sealed after KMT candidate demands recount alleging dirty tricks

Ballot boxes in Taiwan's southern city of Kaohsiung were sealed on Sunday after the Kuomintang Party's (KMT) candidate for mayor demanded a recount and lashed out at his opponent's apparent dirty tricks.

The official vote count showed that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Chu won with just 1,114 votes more than KMT candidate Huang Chun-ying. There were 767,800 votes cast.

Huang, upset with the DPP's "mean and dirty" campaign filed a lawsuit in a local court to have ballot boxes sealed on Sunday morning, Taiwan media reported.

Chen and his supporters held a unusual news conference on Saturday morning just hours before the polls opened where they produced a videotape they say shows Huang was involved in election bribery.

Supporters of Huang immediately questioned the veracity of the video tape, saying the last minute allegation was an underhanded attempt to sway voters after public opinion polls showed Huang was leading prior to election day.

"I am not a sore loser. I just don't want to be treated unjustly," said Huang on Sunday, after saying the election was invalid.

Ma Ying-jeou, the KMT chairman, said the party agreed with Huang's decision to ask for a recount.

"The DPP has resorted to every possible means to win the election, which are despised by the public," Ma said.

Chin-Yi, a KMT legislator, said KMT candidates won elections for Kaohsiung city councilors by a large margin and should have won the election for mayor too.

The Taiwan cities of Kaohsiung and Taipei held elections for mayor and city councilors on Saturday. In Taipei's mayoralty election the KMT candidate easily defeated the DPP candidate.

Chin said there were a number of irregularities in the vote count. The 6,000 officially spoiled ballots is an unusually high number and it took too long to announce the final result. A vote recount should be held, said Chin.

The official vote count showed Chen with 379,417 votes or 49.41 percent of the vote, while Huang received 378,303 votes or 49.27 percent of the vote.

Source: Xinhua