Presidential elections in Taiwan

The election of the President and Vice President of the Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國總統、副總統選舉) is a universal direct election through secret vote by the Taiwanese citizens. The most recent election took place on January 11, 2020.

• The Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act[1] 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
  • Election officials
  • People who hold foreign nationality or who hold residency of the People's Republic of China
  • 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 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 elections, only the Kuomintang and Democratic Progressive Party 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 equals 252,848 signatures for the 2012 election.)[1]

List of presidential elections in Taiwan

President	Election year	Winner	Other candidates
15	2020	Tsai Ing-wen, William Lai (Democratic Progressive) – 57.13%	Han Kuo-yu, Chang San-cheng (Kuomintang) – 38.61% James Soong, Sandra Yu (People First) – 4.26%
14	2016	Tsai Ing-wen, Chen Chien-Jen (Democratic Progressive) – 56.12%	Eric Chu, Wang Ju-hsuan (Kuomintang) – 31.04% James Soong, Hsu Hsin-ying (People First) – 12.84%
13	2012	Ma Ying-jeou, Wu Den-yih (Kuomintang) – 51.60%	Tsai Ing-wen, Su Jia-chyuan (Democratic Progressive) – 45.63% James Soong, Lin Ruey-shiung (People First) – 2.77%
12	2008	Ma Ying-jeou, Vincent Siew (Kuomintang) – 58.45%	Frank Hsieh, Su Tseng-chang (Democratic Progressive) – 41.55%
11	2004	Chen Shui-bian, Annette Lu (Democratic Progressive) – 50.11%	Lien Chan, James Soong (Kuomintang) – 49.89%
10	2000	Chen Shui-bian, Annette Lu (Democratic Progressive) – 39.30%	James Soong, Chang Chau-hsiung (Independent) – 36.84% Lien Chan, Vincent Siew (Kuomintang) – 23.10%
9	1996	Lee Teng-hui, Lien Chan (Kuomintang) – 54.00%	Peng Ming-min, Frank Hsieh (Democratic Progressive) – 21.13% Lin Yang-kang, Hau Pei-tsun (Independent) – 14.90% Chen Li-an, Wang Ching-feng (Independent) – 9.98%

Electoral maps of Taiwanese direct presidential elections.

Election results of the most recent presidential election.

Comparison of the vote percentages in the direct presidential elections.   DPP candidates   Kuomintang candidates   PFP candidates or James Soong   New Party nominated or endorsed candidates   Chen Li-an   Other independents

See also

• Elections in Taiwan
• President of the Republic of China
• List of Presidents of the Republic of China
• Vice President of the Republic of China
• List of Vice Presidents of the Republic of China
• Right of expatriates to vote in their country of origin#Taiwan

References

1. "Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act".