Local elections were held in Taiwan on 19 November 1977, electing 20 magistrates and mayors in the country, 77 members of the Taiwan Provincial Council, and members of the Taipei and Kaohsiung City Council.
Seen as one of the most competitive local polls with crowded field of candidates, the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) was especially focusing on the bitter races in Tainan City, and the counties of Kaohsiung, Nantou, and Taoyuan.
The Kuomintang was accused of rigging the election in Taoyuan after the popular opposition was poised to fend off challenge by KMT's candidate, provoking widespread anger in the county and led to the crackdown on protest, later known as the Zhongli incident.
Provincial Councillor Hsu Hsin-liang expressed interest in Taoyuan poll, but was not nominated by the ruling Kuomintang for being critical of the government. Instead the party nominated 歐憲瑜, an official in the Ministry of Judicial Administration. Hsu nevertheless entered the race, and was subsequently expelled from the party a month before voting.[citation needed]
On the voting day, some ballot papers in Zhongli city were damaged by the poll workers. Voters reported to the police but was largely ignored. Worse still, the police escorted the officials. The furious public soon marched to the police station and demanded a recount. The confrontation, later known as Zhongli Incident, resulted in two deaths after being hit by police's bullet and teargas. It was regarded as the first mass demonstration against election manipulation by the authoritarian regime. Hsu was elected with a majority of around 90,000 votes.[citation needed]
Chen Tuan-tang, Kuomintang's incumbent Taichung Mayor, faced increasing attack over the bribery and financial mismanagement scandal of the city's government. The local "Chang faction" was also angered by Chen's decision to grant bus franchises, effectively ending the monopoly of transportation. Despite the local resistance, KMT chose Chen for re-election instead of the candidate from another powerful local tribe of Lai.[2]
For the Tangwai bloc, City Councillor Tzeng Wen-po (曾文坡) was selected after his rival gave way and ran for Provincial Councillor instead.[2]
Tzeng eventually won the election by surprise, with a mere 1,100 votes. The disappointment by the local factions was considered to be the major reason.[2] However, there were accusations of fraud as Tzeng's campaign first anticipated a lead of 10,000 votes, and that the officials delayed the counting of several ballot boxes until Tangwai supporters blocked the city office and the outbreak of Zhongli Incident.[3]
A total of 13 hopefuls battled for Kuomintang's nomination, the most across the country, which included Yang Pao-fa (楊寶發), a minister in Taipei City administration and Lee Ya-chiao (李雅樵), the Provincial Councillor with the backing of local camps. Although Lee earned more popularity in the grassroots, Yang, a young and loyal party agent, was nominated by the party.[4]
While rumours said Lee and others might try to sabotage Yang's anticipated walkover, he was the only official candidate in the election. With the support from the "mountain faction" and the acquiescence from the "sea faction", Yang faced no significant obstacles and was elected in the unopposed race.[4]
Chang Li-tang (張麗堂) secured the party's nomination to run for re-election as Tainan Mayor, while the Tangwai was represented by Su Nan-cheng, stagging a re-run of the last election.[5]
Su was also supported by 蔡介雄, a Provincial Councillor who was no longer acquiesced his campaign for another term by the party because of his strong stance on social issues and as a tactic to split the opposition's vote.[6][7] Branded "democracy fighter", 蔡介雄 ran for re-election and backed Su in mayoral election. The two rallied for government-friendly and anti-KMT's support respectively.[2]
During the canvassing, KMT's local branch denounced Su as a separatist and communist, which was rebuked by the leading candidate and strengthened the anti-government sentiments.[2] The one-party authorities also called on the soldier to vote for party's candidate.[8]
Chang's team believed the victory is secured, but as vote counting progressed, the lead by Su became clearer. However sudden blackouts were reported in a dozen of voting booths with counting slowed down, a common practice for rigging the election. With the growing fury by the public, the power supply and vote counting later resumed, and Su's advantageous position was maintained.[2] Su later said he resolutely demanded the authorities to abide the law and continue the vote counting, or face whatever consequences that may happen.[9]
Early results showed the election was too close to call with the independent 黃友仁 leading with around 4,000 votes only. As Kuomintang stronghold started counting the ballots, the Tangwai believed the defeat is imminent. Still, supporters of the opposition travelled to the stronghold to supervise the vote count to avoid any electoral fraud.[9] At the end 黃友仁 beat Kuomintang with less than 2,000 votes, which prominent opposition figure Yu Teng-fa said the supervising was critical as it prevented the authorities from stuffing KMT's ballots.[10] Yu also believed the majority should be much larger, at 60,000-some votes.[9]
In the city of Kaohsiung, the incumbent 王玉雲 had his majority shrunk from more than ten thousand to around 4,000, most of those are from the strongholds such as relatives of soldier and civil servants.[2]
Kuomintang Central Committee nominated 謝有溫 rather than a party official who was endorsed by the local party and the headquarter's nomination committee, after the Chief of Staff favoured 謝有溫 from the military due to the strategic location of Penghu.[11]
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