Taiwan in full swing for leadership, legislature elections

Candidates have crisscrossed Taiwan and hosted mass galas to rally support, with thousands of police officers assigned to the field on Friday, the last day ahead of the island's leadership and legislature election.

Three pairs of leader candidates poured resources into last-minute campaigns. Eric Chu of the Kuomintang (KMT) canvassed several communities in Taipei and attended a rally in Taichung before heading back to New Taipei City for a grand gala in the city where he served as mayor.

Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) started street canvassing in Taichung and headed north via Miaoli, Hingchu, Taoyuan, and New Taipei City, attending a finale rally on Ketagalan Boulevard in downtown Taipei.

James Soong of the People First Party met supporters in Lukang and Changhua before heading back to a final campaign gala in Taipei.

Local police have stepped up security ahead of the election. About 15,000 police officers and more than 22,000 civilian volunteers will be stationed around about 15,500 polling stations across the island on Saturday.

About 18 million Taiwan people are eligible to vote for the island's next leader and members of the legislature, according to the island's election commission.

The largest age group among voters is 30 to 39 with about 3.92 million voters, while those aged between 20 and 29 topped 3 million. This year's first-time voters based on the eligibility age of 20 will reach 1.29 million, accounting for 6.8 percent of the total.

At one of Taipei's main coach stations, the ticket office has been more crowded than usual and passengers stood in long lines in front of ticket windows. Many were traveling light with a small backpack or hand luggage as voters returned to their hometowns to cast their ballots.

"The line is much longer than I expected. Normally you can buy tickets and leave in 15 minutes. Today I had to wait for more than a hour, thanks to the election tomorrow," said a woman who identified herself by the surname Lin.

According to the island's election rules, voters must return to where they are registered as residents to cast their ballots.

Some legislature candidates campaigned at railway and coach stations, urging people, especially young people, to go to the polls on Saturday.

A total of 377 candidates are running for 79 directly elected regional and aboriginal seats in the legislature, while 179 candidates from 18 parties -- the most ever -- are vying for 34 at-large seats. Taiwan's legislature has 113 seats.

Each eligible voter will cast two ballots in the legislative election: one for a candidate representing the voter's district, and the other for a political party to decide how many at-large seats each party will hold. Endi