Taiwan Central Election Commission announces 2026 local elections

Taiwan's Central Election Commission (CEC) has officially announced the schedule for the 2026 nine-in-one local elections, set to take place on November 28. The election is expected to involve approximately 19.65 million voters, including over 600,000 first-time voters. The process will elect 11,051 local officials across 8,906 constituencies and 18,244 polling stations.

CEC Chairperson Yu Ying-lung described the event as one of the largest and most complex democratic exercises due to the variety of election types and voting procedures. To ensure fairness and security, the commission has implemented several new measures. These include enhanced protections for the secret voting rights of indigenous voters and a significant adjustment to candidate deposit requirements—the first major change in 32 years.

To combat modern threats, the CEC has established a specialized task force to prevent the impact of AI-generated deepfakes and misinformation. The commission is also collaborating with the Ministry of Digital Affairs to launch an AI deepfake reporting network and is conducting cybersecurity testing on computer counting systems to prevent external interference.