Officials probe alleged vote-buying as prosecutor calls for whistle-blowersBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterJudicial authorities have over the past few days carried out searches and questioned suspects over alleged election irregularities in Keelung and Hsinchu City, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung and Yunlin counties. In Keelung, prosecutors were investigating a complaint that a borough warden candidate surnamed Lin (林) had been allegedly handing out NT$1,000 to people in exchange for their votes. Separately, the nation’s top judicial officials have ordered district prosecutors’ offices nationwide to set up contact centers to monitor election irregularities. The contact centers would be open around the clock for people to report vote-buying and other suspected illegal activities. The government is to hand out financial rewards of up to NT$10 million to whistle-blowers, depending on the scope of vote-buying, Lin said.
