Local elections were held on 24 November 2018 in Taiwan, to elect county magistrates (city mayors), county (city) councilors, township mayors, township councilors and chiefs of village (borough) in 6 municipalities and 16 counties (cities). Elected officials would serve a four-year term. Polling stations were open from 08:00 to 16:00 on the election day. The elections resulted in a substantial defeat for the DPP. The DPP previously held 13 of 22 municipalities and counties, but won only 6 in this election due to widespread public distrust, a ''de facto''

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

on President Tsai's Administration, both politically (relations with China), economically (agriculture, tourism), and socially (pollution, labor laws, wages), which were reflected in the series of

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

results. The KMT won back executive control of 7 municipalities and counties from the DPP, while Ko Wen-je won his re-election for Taipei mayor.

Background

This local election was seen as the first test for the incumbent President

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...

since assuming office in May 2016. The

Central Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

opened election registration to candidates on 27 August 2018. The

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majorit ...

has won the popular vote against the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Ta ...

in all of the last three elections. This trend has continued in the 2016 elections, where the

won a majority in the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...

with 68 seats and the presidency.

Results summary

Magistrate and mayor elections

Opinion polls

Results

Councillor elections

Nominations

Opinion polls

Results

Township/city mayor elections

Nominations

Results

Township/city council elections

Nominations

Results

Village chief elections

Nominations

Results

Aftermath

President

announced her resignation as chairperson for the Democratic Progressive Party; Premier

William Lai William Lai Ching-te (; born 6 October 1959) is a Taiwanese politician who has been the Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2020. He served as a legislator in the Legislative Yuan from 1999 to 2010, and as Mayor of Tainan from ...

also unilaterally announced his resignation on Faceboo

his resignation was approved in 2019. The DPP secretary general Hung Yao-fu and Secretary-General to the President

Chen Chu Chen Chu or Kiku Chen (; born 10 June 1950) is the current President of the Control Yuan and Chair of the National Human Rights Commission. Before assuming her current post, Chen had served as Secretary-General to the President from 2018 to ...

also announced their resignations. Following the elections, the Taiwanese foreign minister claimed that China had meddled in the elections. Defector and self-proclaimed former spy

William Wang William Wang () is a Taiwanese American billionaire entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of Vizio. Early life Wang was born in Taipei, Taiwan, moved to Hawaii, United States at the age of 12, and then to California at the age of 14. He atte ...

claimed that the government of China had successfully supported candidates in the 2018 Taiwanese local elections.

Notes

References

{{Taiwanese elections

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

Local

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

November 2018 events in Asia

Background

Results summary

Magistrate and mayor elections

Opinion polls

Results

Councillor elections

Nominations

Opinion polls

Results

Township/city mayor elections

Nominations

Results

Township/city council elections

Nominations

Results

Village chief elections

Nominations

Results

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References