According to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), some 788,000 train tickets were sold on Jan 12, a record for the eve of an election. While many Taiwanese live and work in major cities such as Taipei and its surrounding New Taipei, they may still be registered in more remote villages or towns where they were born. No electronic or absentee voting is allowed.
To accommodate the high travel demand, the TRA added 83 train services for the weekend, it said in a statement.
Businesses have also capitalised on the election fever to offer various deals to entice people to head outdoors to vote.
Bars and restaurants are offering special dine-in promotions just for the day, as are themed parks and tourist attractions islandwide.
The Farglory Ocean Park in Hualien, in Taiwan’s remote east, for instance, promoted a “Return to Hualien to vote deal”, which provides visitors with a 50 per cent discount on their entrance tickets. As for the Seven Keba chain of izakaya restaurants across Taipei, diners can redeem free dishes if they yell to the boss: “I have voted!”
Polls close at 4pm, with ballot counting by hand starting almost immediately. The results are expected to be known before the end of the night.
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