One vote is 3,000 yuan! Acting Kinmen Town candidate Lin Changhong and Zhuangjiao sued for bribery to buy votes

The Kinmen District Prosecutor's Office investigated Lin Changhong, a non-party candidate for Jinhu Town Representative, for allegedly bribing voters to buy votes at a price of 3,000 yuan per vote through a stakeholder named Wang. The entire case was investigated. Lin and Wang were prosecuted for voting bribes in violation of the election and recall law, and were transferred to the Kinmen District Court for trial today. This case is also the first case in Kinmen to be prosecuted for vote bribery since the election campaign began.

The Kinmen District Prosecutor’s Office commanded the Fujian Provincial Investigation Division and the Jinhu Branch of the Kinmen County Police Department to investigate the bribery case in the Jinhu Town representative election. It was discovered that candidate Lin Changhong had provided funds to buy votes in May this year in order to be successfully elected. He instructed Zhuangjiao Wang to bribe two voters named Wang to buy votes at a price of 3,000 yuan per vote in Shangyi, Jinhu Town and other places. Two voters also agreed and accepted the money; another three voters said they would consider it but did not accept the money.

The District Prosecutor's Office stated that although Lin Changhong recovered some of the money afterwards, he was still traced by the police. The whole case was investigated by prosecutors and it was found that Lin Sue and Wang Zhuangjiao were guilty of violating Article 99, Item 1, of the Public Officials Election and Recall Law by voting and delivering bribes. Public prosecutions were launched in accordance with the law and were transferred to the Kinmen District Court today. The two voters who accepted bribes were also given deferred prosecution.

Ye Zicheng, chief prosecutor of the Kinmen District Prosecutor's Office, said that this case is the first case of bribery investigated and prosecuted in Kinmen's end-of-year local public officials election. It is currently less than 20 days before the polling day. The District Prosecutor's Office solemnly reiterates its determination to investigate bribery and calls on Kinmen residents to report suspected vote bribery if they find it, and work together to correct Kinmen's electoral style.