Taiwan people went to the polls Saturday to select the 113
members of "legislative Yuan" (the island's "parliament").
Nearly 300 candidates are competing for the parliamentary seats
in more than 70 districts across the island.
Voters will cast two ballots -- one for a specific candidate in
their district and another for the party of their choice.
Taiwan's "legislative Yuan" has been streamlined from 225 seats
to 113 in an effort to improve efficiency.
Personages like former Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan had
attracted considerable media attention when they went to polling
stations to cast their votes.
According to the rules, voters are prohibited from taking cell
phones or cameras with them in the polling stations or they will be
fined from 30,000 to 300,000 Taiwan dollars (about 938 to 9,375
U.S. dollars).
Polling stations were to close at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, with
ballot counting to begin immediately afterwards. The result is
expected to come out around 10:30 p.m.
(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2008)