Chiayi Village Head Candidate Indicted for Bribing Temple via LINE Group

Competition in Taiwan's grassroots elections has always been fierce, especially at the village warden level, where candidates and voters often share dense geographical and interpersonal networks. However, this type of electoral model, which relies heavily on daily interaction and local sentiment, often crosses legal red lines when candidates attempt to demonstrate enthusiasm through money or material goods. The Chiayi District Prosecutors Office recently concluded the investigation of a vote-buying case involving a village warden election. A candidate surnamed Ho was accused of publicly promising in a local messaging app group to sponsor a local temple with NT$110,000, while simultaneously using his personal campaign photo for promotion. Prosecutors determined that this act constituted a promise of bribes in exchange for votes directed at villagers with the right to vote. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the case was formally prosecuted for violations of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act.

According to the investigation by the Chiayi District Prosecutors Office, the incident occurred in June of this year, a period of strategic planning and campaigning leading up to the local elections. The involved male surnamed Ho, seeking to win the village warden seat in a village located in Chiayi County's Yizhu Township, actively expanded his local network and sought visibility. Prosecutors found that the candidate surnamed Ho targeted a LINE messaging app group with more than 100 members, the majority of whom were villagers with voting rights in the village. The candidate surnamed Ho utilized this online social platform to directly broadcast a message to the more than 100 villagers in the group, publicly promising to provide approximately NT$110,000 in funds to sponsor local temple activities or construction.

It is worth noting that this promise of financial sponsorship was not a simple charitable donation. When filtering through the relevant evidence, investigators discovered that while releasing the sponsorship message, the candidate surnamed Ho also attached his personal campaign photograph and related campaign graphics. This practice of closely combining religious sponsorship with personal electoral imagery is easily perceived in electoral practice and legal determination as disguised bribery directed at voters under the guise of temple activities. Prosecutors believe that temples play important religious and social centers in Taiwanese rural society. Sponsoring temples to win the goodwill and support of local believers is a common electoral tactic; however, when accompanied by clear campaign publicity and promises regarding voting intent, it crosses the boundary of lawful social sponsorship and violates the ban on promise-based vote-buying under the Election and Recall Act.

In Taiwan's electoral regulations, the Public Officials Election and Recall Act has always strictly regulated vote-buying behavior. It not only prohibits the direct distribution of cash to buy votes, but also heavily cracks down on using promises, the delivery of property, or other improper benefits to solicit support from specific voters or persons with voting rights. The so-called "promise-based vote-buying" refers to a tacit understanding or commitment reached between a candidate and voters regarding the future provision of benefits in exchange for the voters' support at the ballot box. In this case, the investigative authorities believed that the candidate surnamed Ho made a commitment of a specific amount in a public group with a hundred villagers and attached his campaign photo, which already met the constitutive elements of promise-based vote-buying. Therefore, after gathering complete evidence, he was prosecuted according to law, demonstrating the determination of investigative units to crack down on vote-buying during grassroots elections.

The occurrence of this case once again highlights the intricate relationship between religious beliefs and political activities in Taiwan's grassroots elections. As the core of local cohesion, temples frequently become places where politicians from all sides scramble to visit and make donations. However, how to strike a balance between enthusiastic philanthropy, giving back to the community, and violating electoral regulations has always been a serious issue that all candidates must face. As investigative units tighten their monitoring of various forms of disguised vote-buying, the borderline promotions commonly seen in the past via social software or local associations have now become important benchmarks for reviewing whether illegal activities are involved. This prosecution not only brings judicial trial tests to the parties involved, but also sounds an alarm for all upcoming or future grassroots elections, reminding candidates not to harbor wishful thinking and to compete fairly within the norms of the rule of law.