Give away cash and mushrooms to buy tickets. Hualien Xiulin’s fifth consecutive winner, village head Zhou Xiande, indicted for election bribery

Zhou Xiande, the head of Xiulin Village, was indicted today for allegedly buying votes worth 1,000 yuan in cash and giving mushroom gifts to voters in order to support him on voting day. (Taken from Zhou Xiande’s Facebook)

Zhou Xiande, a KMT candidate for the mayor of Xiulin Village, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, and his wife were suspected of buying votes from voters with 1,000 yuan in cash and gifted mushrooms. They were seized by the Hualien prosecutors last month and posted a 100,000 yuan bail. The Hualien District Prosecutor's Office announced today that Zhou Xiande was prosecuted on suspicion of delivering bribes in violation of election laws and was transferred to the Hualien District Court.

Zhou Xiande, the head of Xiulin Village in Xiulin Township, served for five terms. Due to the fierce competition in Xiulin Village at the end of the year, a total of four candidates were registered. The Kuomintang approved two people, Zhou Xiande and Zhong Yiming, to run. However, Zhou Xiande was found by the prosecutors. From April to September this year before Zhou Zao registered, he was suspected of giving 1,000 yuan in cash and mushroom gifts with market prices of about 100 to 300 yuan to voters to buy votes, agreeing to support Zhou Xiande on the voting day.

Lin Yingzheng, prosecutor of the Hualien District Prosecutor's Office, directed the police and the Immigration Department's Hualien County Special Task Force to conduct searches at five locations including the defendant's home with a court search ticket. He arrested as many as 17 people and reported them to the case. On the 2nd of last month, he applied to the court for a detention ban. The Hualien District Court released Zhou Xiande and his wife Wang Daughter on bail of 100,000 yuan each, and the other persons involved in the case and witnesses were asked to return.

After a month of investigation, Hualien prosecutors announced today that the investigation of the entire case has been concluded, and the defendant Zhou Xiande will be prosecuted in accordance with the Public Employee Election and Removal Law for soliciting and delivering bribes to people with voting rights.

The Hualien District Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that fair elections are the cornerstone of democratic politics. Candidates should strive for the approval of voters with their political opinions and services. It calls on candidates not to take chances and try to influence voters' voting intentions with money, gifts or any improper benefits. In response to various crimes that undermine the fairness of elections, the prosecutors and police investigation team will absolutely uphold the attitude of "investigate what they hear and act based on evidence" to investigate to the end. They vow to defend a pure election environment and protect precious democratic values.

The Hualien District Prosecutor's Office today filed a public prosecution against Zhou Xiande, the head of Xiulin Village in Xiulin Township, for violating the election and strike law. (Photo by reporter Hua Mengjing)