On November 27, 2010 voters in Taiwan's metropolitan cities went to the polls to cast ballots for their mayors, city council members, and borough chiefs. Such elections are held every four years and are considered nearly as important as Taiwan's legislative and presidential elections. This paper seeks to analyze the municipal campaigns, political process, and election outcomes in order to predict their influence on the 2012 legislative and presidential elections.


On January 14, 2012 voters in Taiwan went to the polls to cast ballots for their president and vice president, and for members of the Legislative Yuan. For a number of reasons this was regarded one of Taiwan's most important elections. It was the first time Taiwan's national executive and legislative elections were held simultaneously. Additionally, the utilization of an electoral system was also new. This paper assesses the campaigns, the candidates, the elections, and their results.