The election of the president and vice president of Taiwan () is a
universal direct election
Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they want to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen ...
through
secret vote
The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vot ...
by the citizens of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(ROC) in the
Free Area. ROC presidents are elected by
relative majority (plurality), meaning the candidate with the most votes wins without a runoff requirement.
The most recent election took place on January 13, 2024.
* The ''Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act''
states that a candidate for president or vice president must be a
citizen of the Republic of China, at least 40 years old, and a
resident of Taiwan for a period of no less than 15 years with a physical presence of no less than 6 consecutive months.
* The following persons shall not be registered as candidates for the president:
**
Military personnel
Military personnel or military service members are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, coast guard, air force, and space force), rank ( office ...
** Election officials
** People who hold foreign nationality or who hold residency of the People's Republic of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
** People who have restored their nationality or acquired their nationality by naturalization
*The president and vice president are nominated on a joint ticket.
Political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
which have gained at least 5% of the votes in the last presidential or
legislative election may nominate a set of candidates directly. For example, during the
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
elections, only the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
and
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...
were qualified to nominate candidates through this rule. Alternatively, candidates may be nominated by a petition signed by eligible voters numbering no less than 1.5% of the electors in the last legislative election. (This equaled 252,848 signatures for the 2012 election.)
[
]
List of presidential elections in Taiwan
See also
* Elections in Taiwan
*President of the Republic of China
The president of the Republic of China, also known as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. Republic of China (1912– ...
*List of presidents of the Republic of China
This is a list of the presidents of the Republic of China.
The Republic of China controlled Mainland China before 1949. In the fall of 1949, the ROC government retreated to Taiwan and surrounding islands as a result of the takeover of the ...
*Vice President of the Republic of China
The vice president of the Republic of China, commonly referred to as the vice president of Taiwan, is the second-highest constitutional office of the government in Taiwan, after the president, and ranks first in the presidential line of success ...
* List of vice presidents of the Republic of China
* Right of expatriates to vote in their country of origin#Taiwan
References
{{Authority control
Elections in Taiwan