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Taiwan's two major parties were able to hold on to leadership positions in the majority of Taiwan's counties. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) kept county magistrate posts in southern Taiwan's Chiayi County and Pingtung. The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) was able to maintain control of the majority of Taiwan's localities. That includes victories in county magistrate races in Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi City, Hsinchu County, Yilan, and Hualien.

DPP Pingtung County magistrate candidate Chou Chun-mi (周春米) won her tightly contested race, while DPP candidate Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁) won in Chiayi County. The DPP's traditional base is in southern Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the KMT won mayorships and county magistrate positions in the majority of Taiwan's localities. That includes a re-election victory for Yilan County Magistrate Lin Tzu-miao (林姿妙). Lin won a surprise victory in 2018 as a KMT candidate in a DPP stronghold. Her re-election campaign was tarnished after she was charged with corruption in August.

Taiwan's elections authorities have yet to certify official results in most places.

Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Hsinchu City mayor candidate Ann Kao (高虹安) has declared victory. This is the first time the new party has won a mayoral election. 

The TPP was started by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in August 2019. Ko has expressed aspirations to run for president in 2024, and the party is seen as a vehicle to elect him.

The TPP is Taiwan's third largest party in the legislature. The party brands itself as a third alternative to Taiwan's two main political parties. This is the first local election it has run in.

Kao declared victory at 7:24pm based on initial vote counts. Former Hsinchu Deputy Mayor Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) conceded defeat at around 7p.m.

Hsinchu is Taiwan's high tech hub and has been one of this year's most highly contested mayoral races. The 38-year-old Kao will become the youngest mayor in Taiwan's history. 

Kao began her political career as an aide to founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Terry Gou (郭台銘) when he participated in the KMT's 2019 presidential primary. Kao has a strong tech background which was likely a big part of her appeal to the city's voters. She worked at the government-funded Institute for Information Industry and became the head of Hon Hai's big data office in 2018.

Kao has been able to lead the race despite being plagued by scandals and lawsuits. Last month, the institute filed a suit against Kao for copyright infringement. It says she copied 70 to 80% of her doctoral thesis without proper attribution. Kao has also been accused of misappropriating public funds as a legislator. Kao has rejected the charges and said they were part of a smear campaign against her.

Kao says she will transform the city into an international tech hub.

Taiwan's main opposition party is set to win leadership positions throughout northern Taiwan. Kuomintang (KMT) candidates for mayor in Taipei, New Taipei, and Taoyuan and are all favored to win their races. That comes as the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) looks to hold on to mayorships in southern Taiwan's Tainan and Kaohsiung.

As of 7:30pm local time, Taipei mayor candidates Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) have both conceded. That leaves KMT candidate and former silicon valley lawyer Wayne Chiang (蔣萬安) as the likely victor. Being elected Taipei mayor is often seen as a key stepping stone to Taiwan's presidency.

In New Taipei, DPP candidate for mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) conceded to KMT mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜). Hou was re-elected and won over 60% of the vote in Taiwan's most populous city. Hou has been one of Taiwan's most popular mayors.

The KMT also won big in Taoyuan, flipping the mayorship. KMT mayor candidate Chang Shan-cheng (張善政) has declared victory there. The DPP's campaigned was mired in scandal after its initial candidate Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) had to step down due to two universities rescinding his master's theses over plagiarism.

Meanwhile, the DPP held on to leadership positions in both Kaohsiung and Tainan. Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) won a close race in Tainan while his counterpart in Kaohsiung Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) comfortably held on to his position. Southern Taiwan is the DPP's traditional base.

If the results stand, the DPP will only have control of two of Taiwan's six largest cities. 

Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) candidates in Keelung, Taitung and Lienchiang have all claimed victory while an independent candidate in Miaoli has also announced his victory. 

KMT Keelung mayor candidate Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑 ) announced that he has won while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) went to his campaign headquarters at 6:10 pm to announce his loss.

KMT Taitung County magistrate candidate Jao Ching-ling (饒慶齡) has already received 60% of the vote and announced her re-election. 

Independent Miaoli County magistrate candidate Chung Tung-chin (鍾東錦) has announced his victory. The KMT had previously revoked Chung's membership so he ran as an independent. He has a number of past criminal convictions including participating in a murder, stabbing a person with a knife, committing criminal adultery and associating with gangsters.

KMT Lienchiang County magistrate candidate Wang Chung-ming (王忠銘) has also announced that he's been elected. 

Meanwhile, DPP Taipei mayor candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) also conceded at 7pm with KMT candidate in Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) in a strong lead.

A total of 72 people were caught breaking election laws during Taiwan's local elections on Saturday. Taiwan held elections for new city and county leaders, city councilors, borough chiefs and other local leaders.

There were 37 incidents of people tearing up or taking away ballots. This behavior can incur fines from NT$5,000 (US$160) to NT$50,000 (US$1,600).

There were also 24 people who took their mobile phones into voting booths.  Anyone taking mobile phones or filming equipment into voting booths can be fined from NT$30,000 (about US$970) to NT$300,000 (US$9,700)

Another six people were caught campaigning within 30 meters of voting stations and two continued to do so even after they were stopped by the police. People are not allowed to campaign near polling places and can be fined from NT$50,000 (US$1600) to NT$500,000 ($16,000) for doing so. 

Voting began at 8am and continued until 4pm on Saturday throughout Taiwan.

Mere hours remain before voters go to the polls on Saturday and elect local leaders of all levels — from borough chiefs to city mayors. Political heavyweights from major parties are now making appearances in some of the bigger races to shore up support for their preferred candidates.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) tells a campaign rally to trust her and support Hsinchu mayoral candidate Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹).

Besides the president, a few other DPP heavyweights came out to support their party's candidate during this final stretch before election day on Saturday.

Shen herself is confident that voters will see things clearly and elect the most suitable candidate.

In Keelung, another DPP mayoral hopeful, Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) has enlisted the help of Taiwan's former Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁). Even a day before the election is not too late for motorcade canvassing and warm words of support.

Tsai's KMT opponent in Keelung, Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), on the other hand, is getting support from his own party's heavyweight, Taiwan's former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). After enjoying some local snacks, it's time to do some canvassing as well. Ma says he goes where his help is needed, while Hsieh hopes for good weather on Saturday, so voters come out in force.

With mere hours of campaigning left, candidates are pulling no punches in enlisting help from their respective parties' heavy hitters. They won't have to wait long to find out if it was worth it.

Tomasz Koper, RTI News

The Central Election Commission says the general public is allowed to promote the referendum but cannot promote candidates on election day. The commission reminds voters of the rules for the upcoming Saturday local election. 

The commission says promoting the referendum is not against election rules. But it adds that candidates running for public office are prohibited from campaigning for themselves or the referendum.  

Election official Li Chin-yung (李進勇) also says there can be no campaigning for political candidates starting midnight on election day. This includes uploading and reposting pictures with candidate endorsements online. However, Li says political endorsement images can stay on if they were posted prior to election day. 

Li says election campaigns should conclude before 10pm on Friday to minimize public disturbance. 

Voting booths will be open between 8am until 4pm on Saturday.

President Tsai Ing-wen made her way to Yilan on Wednesday to show her support for a county magistrate candidate. But things didn't go exactly as planned.

Taiwan's local elections are days away, and candidates around the country are looking for all the help they can get. So it makes sense that DPP candidate for Yilan County Magistrate Chiang Tsung-yuan (江聰淵) would welcome the personal support of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). After all, Tsai won over 60% of the votes in Yilan when she was reelected. But even a polished politician like Tsai can make mistakes.

As Tsai attended a campaign event to rally support for Chiang, she accidentally told the crowd to vote for a different DPP politician, Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀). 

The crowd laughed at Tsai's small slip of the tongue, and even the president couldn't help but smile. Chiang on the other hand did his best to stay cool.

Tsai explained that last time she did an event like this in Yilan, she had been with the other politician. She said she was a bit slow to switch the names. Chiang later made his own pivot.

Chiang says that President Tsai's slip up was because she had previously been elected with Chen. He says his job now is to take the mantle from Chen and win in Yilan.

With the elections coming up this weekend, even a slip of the tongue can make all the difference.

Taipei's mayor election this Saturday will have a high voter turnout because of the race's importance. That came from independent candidate Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) on Wednesday.

This year's race for Taipei mayor is close. Three major candidates are vying to replace two-term Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in one of the most important political posts in the country. 

Huang says contrary to what many are saying, she thinks turnout in this year's election will be high. She says that's because people will realize not voting is the same as giving up the next four years of their lives. Huang adds she hopes the public will realize voting is not done for itself, but instead to choose someone who will get things done.

Meanwhile, Huang's opponents have already begun using motorcades to canvas for votes throughout the city. Vehicle canvasing is an important part of vote-getting in Taiwan. Huang says her campaign will begin its own motorcade canvassing operation on Thursday to get in touch with more voters and let them know about her ideas.

Election campaigns in Taiwan are picking up speed before votes are cast this Saturday. One of the more unusual races is taking place, somewhat unsurprisingly, in Miaoli.

Candidates in Taiwan's rural Miaoli County are hitting the streets from early morning despite the rain. With only days until the local elections, independent candidate for county magistrate Zhong Dongjin (鍾東錦) doesn't want to lose time and eats breakfast on the go.

But this isn't what makes the Miaoli race unique. It's the candidates.

Zhong Dongjin is running as an independent after Taiwan's second largest party, the KMT, revoked his membership. He is slightly ahead of his main DPP rival, and that's despite Zhong's controversial past. He has a number of criminal convictions on his record. Those include participating in a murder, stabbing a person with a knife, committing criminal adultery and associating with gangsters.

Yet, he says people greet him warmly wherever he goes.

His main rival is the DPP's Hsu Ting-chen (徐定禎). Currently, one of Hsu's chief concerns is making sure the election is clean. He wants prosecutors to stave off election bribery until the end of voting.

He says the worst instances of corruption during the 2018 elections happened in places where prosecutors had left their posts the afternoon before voting started.

Besides calling for clean elections, Hsu is also asking voters to look into his rival's past.

Miaoli County has a reputation for being the odd one out among all of Taiwan's regions. After looking at this year's elections, it's not hard to imagine why.

Tomasz Koper, RTI News