Kaohsiung City Mayor Han Kuo-yu recalled in Taiwan

2020/06/09

Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City Mayor Han Kuo-yu was recalled June 6, becoming the first elected official to be removed from office under the country’s Civil Servants Election and Recall Act.
 
 A total of 939,090 votes, or 97.4 percent, were cast in favor of the recall, with 42.14 percent turnout, Kaohsiung City Election Commission statistics show. Only 2.6 percent of ballots opposed the move.
 
 According to Article 90 of CSERA, the removal of a municipality leader requires a majority vote with a turnout of at least 25 percent of eligible voters.
 
 The vote shows the world Taiwan is a mature democracy, the Executive Yuan said later the same day, adding that all voters remained calm and orderly during the process and the people of Taiwan will remain united going forward.
 
 The Central Election Commission will officially announce the results within seven days of the vote, in line with Article 91 of CSERA.
 
 In accordance with the act, the Cabinet will appoint an acting mayor to fill Han’s position after the CEC’s announcement. A by-election for a new mayor will be held within three months if Han chooses not to challenge the results.
 
 CSERA also stipulates that Han cannot run for the same position within 4 years of his removal.
 
 Han won 892,545 votes, 53.86 percent, in the Kaohsiung City Mayor election that took place in November 2018, beating Democratic Progressive Party rival Chen Chi-mai, who recieved 742,239 ballots, 44.79 percent.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)