Taitung Daren is involved in the ghost population! Prosecutors arrest village head candidate across counties and cities and pay bail of RMB 60,000

The Taitung District Prosecutor’s Office has recently investigated a number of cases involving violations of election and strike laws. (File photo, taken by reporter Liu Renwei)

The Taitung District Prosecutor's Office received intelligence information and learned that a candidate surnamed Chen in Taitung County's Daren Township was suspected of obstructing the election by falsely relocating his place of residence. It immediately assigned prosecutors Wu Pengxuan and Zhang Weixin to direct the Dawu Branch of the Taitung County Police Department and the Southern Crime Bureau of the Criminal Bureau. The Psychological Investigation Team 1 and the New Taipei City Government Police Haishan Branch formed a task force to actively investigate. On November 6, 2015, a total of 9 village chief candidates named Chen were arrested and voters, household heads, and agents who had relocated their household registrations were summoned to report to the case.

After interrogation by the prosecutor, it was found that the candidate surnamed Chen was involved in the crime of attempted voting under Article 146, Item 3 and Item 2 of the Criminal Code and Article 98-1, Item 3 and Item 1 of the Public Officers Election and Recall Act, with the intention of electing a specific candidate and falsely transferring household registration to obtain the right to vote. The criminal suspicion was serious, but there was no need for detention. He was ordered to post a bail of NT$60,000, and the other co-defendants and witnesses were asked to return.