Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 13 January 2024 as part of the 2024 general elections. Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the incumbent president of the Republic of China, was ineligible for reelection due to term limits. As such, the DPP nominated Vice President Lai Ching-te, who had secured the party chairmanship by acclamation in March 2023. He selected Hsiao Bi-khim, the incumbent Representative of Taiwan to the United States, as his running mate.
The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) nominated the incumbent New Taipei mayor Hou Yu-ih as their candidate for president in May 2023. In November, Hou chose the former Legislative Yuan member Jaw Shaw-kong to be his running mate. The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) nominated Ko Wen-je, its leader and a former Mayor of Taipei, who in turn chose Legislative Yuan member Cynthia Wu as his running mate. Despite previously saying he would support Hou's nomination, businessman Terry Gou declared his own independent bid in September 2023, before ultimately dropping out in November. Although the KMT and the TPP had initially agreed to field a joint ticket in November 2023, the two sides were unable to reach a final agreement, and each announced their own vice presidential candidate on the last day of registration.
Lai was elected president with 40% of the vote and was inaugurated as the eighth president of the Republic of China on 20 May. The election had a turnout of 72%, three percentage points lower than in the previous election. This marked the first time since 2000 that the winning candidate received less than 50% of the vote and the first time that a party won more than two consecutive presidential elections since direct elections were introduced in 1996.
Background
Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) became the first female president after winning the 2016 presidential election, defeating KMT nominee Eric Chu. She won a second term in 2020 and continued to serve until 20 May 2024. Tsai resigned as party chairperson after the DPP suffered losses in the 2022 Taiwanese local elections. She was replaced in an acting capacity by Chen Chi-mai. Tsai's vice president, Lai Ching-te, ultimately became the party chairperson by acclamation in late 2022.
Qualifications and procedure Presidential and vice presidential candidates are elected on the same ticket using first-past-the-post voting. This was the eighth direct election of the president and vice president, the posts having previously been indirectly elected by the National Assembly until 1996. According to the constitution, Tsai, having served two terms, is term-limited from office. Under Article 22 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act, only the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Kuomintang (KMT), the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), and the New Power Party (NPP), having received more than five percent of the total vote in either the last presidential or legislative election, are eligible to contest the election.
Candidates register with the Central Election Commission. Under Article 23, independent candidates and smaller parties are also eligible to contest, registering as the candidates for president and vice president by the way of joint signature shall, within five days after the public notice for election is issued, apply to the Central Election Commission to be the presentees recommended by way of joint signature and to receive a list of joint signers, and pay a deposit of NT$1,000,000. If the number of joint signers reaches 1.5% of the total electors in the latest Presidential and Vice Presidential Election within the time limit, which is 45 days under normal circumstances or 25 days in case of a by-election or a reelection, the presentees will be allowed to proceed with contesting in the election after the joint signature documents are examined. For the 2024 presidential election, the number of signatures required for independent candidates was approximately 290,000. The complete petition was to be submitted between 13 and 17 September 2023, and the signature collection period followed from 17 September to 2 November 2023. Presidential candidacies were formally registered between 20 and 24 November 2023. Lots for ballot positioning were drawn on 11 December; the Taiwan People's Party ticket was to be listed first, followed by the Democratic Progressive Party, then the Kuomintang.
Timetable Key DatesDateEvent15 March 2023The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officially nominates vice president Lai Ching-te as the party's presidential nominee.8 May 2023The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) officially nominates former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je as the party's presidential nominee.17 May 2023The Kuomintang Party (KMT) officially nominates New Taipei mayor Hou Yu-ih as the party's presidential nominee.28 August 2023Businessman Terry Gou declares his candidacy for the presidency as an independent.12 September-4 December 2023Accepting applications for the election of the president and vice president and registration of electors who return to the country to exercise their right to vote.14 September 2023Terry Gou selects actress Lai Pei-hsia as his running mate. 13 November 2023Gou qualifies to run in the presidential election.13 November 2023The KMT and TPP agree to use polling to determine the formation of a joint-ticket.14 November 2023Announcement of the signature results of the presidential and vice presidential election.18 November 2023The KMT and TPP fail to form a unity ticket by their own deadline.20 November 2023The Lai-Hsiao DPP ticket is formed, and formally register at the Central Election Commission.24 November 2023Terry Gou withdraws from the election.24 November 2023Deadline for presidential candidate registration; the KMT and TPP file separate tickets.20, 26 and 28 December 20233 sessions of policy presentation forum organized by Central Election Commission for presidential candidates.22 December 2023Policy presentation forum organized by Central Election Commission for vice-president candidates.30 December 2023Presidential debate featuring all three candidates, jointly organized by 11 Taiwanese media corporations and hosted at Public Television Service (PTS) studio.1 January 2024Vice presidential debate organized jointly by 11 Taiwanese media corporations and hosted at PTS studio.13 January 2024Voting was held from 08:00 to 16:00, resulting in Lai Ching-te winning the election.20 May 2024Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim were inaugurated as president and vice president, respectively.
Nominations Taiwan People's Party Ko Wen-je, being the only individual to register in the party's presidential primary, is the nominee of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP). On 24 November 2023, Ko selected Cynthia Wu, current legislator since November 2022, as his running mate.
Nominees 2024 Taiwan People's ticketfor Presidentfor Vice President Mayor of Taipei(2014–2022) Member of the Legislative Yuan(2022–2024)
Democratic Progressive Party
Incumbent president, two-time Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential nominee, and former Chair of the DPP Tsai Ing-wen is ineligible to run, having completed two consecutive terms. Tsai resigned as DPP Chair in 2022, following the party's poor performance in the local elections of that year. After Tsai's resignation, Vice President Lai Ching-te (also known as William Lai) was unanimously elected to succeed her as Chair of the DPP. Lai was previously selected to be Tsai's running mate after she defeated him in the 2020 primary. No primary was held, and Lai Ching-te, being the only individual to register in the party's presidential primary, is the nominee of the Democratic Progressive Party.
In November 2023, it was reported that Lai was considering selecting Hsiao Bi-khim (also known as Louise Hsiao), Taiwan's representative to the United States, as his running mate. Hsiao resigned from her position as US representative (de facto ambassador) and returned to Taiwan on 19 November. Lai officially named Hsiao as the election running mate on the same day. Upon selecting Hsiao, Lai called his new running mate "a warrior for democracy" with whom he shared a common vision for Taiwan. Lai's decision to have Hsiao as his running mate was seen as a nod to the importance between Taiwan's relationship with the US. The Lai-Hsiao ticket formally registered at the Central Election Commission on 20 November 2023.
Nominees 2024 Democratic Progressive ticketfor Presidentfor Vice President Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)(2020–2024) Representative to the United States(2020–2023)
Kuomintang Hou Yu-ih, the Mayor of New Taipei since 2018, was drafted by the Kuomintang (KMT) on 17 May 2023 to be its nominee for the presidency. Hou faced opposition from Foxconn founder Terry Gou, who had earlier stated that he would support Hou. On 24 November 2023, the Kuomintang named former legislator Jaw Shaw-kong as its vice presidential candidate.
Nominees 2024 Kuomintang ticketfor Presidentfor Vice President Mayor of New Taipei(2018–present) Chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation of China(2006–2007, 2009–2024)
Other parties and independents All independent and minor party candidates needed a minimum of 290,000 signatures to register with the Central Election Commission.
Withdrawn candidates Terry Gou
Billionaire businessman Terry Gou, who founded the global technology manufacturing company Foxconn in 1974, declared his own presidential run as an independent candidate on 28 August 2023. This was despite previously stating he would support Kuomintang nominee Hou Yu-ih. The KMT described Gou's announcement as 'deeply regrettable'. Lai Ching-te welcomed Gou's entrance into the race, saying he would be happy to take on the challenge. Gou was the first of the mainstream candidates to announce his running mate; he selected actress (otherwise known as Tammy Lai) as his running mate on 14 September. Lai had previously played a fictional Taiwanese presidential candidate on a Chinese-language Netflix series, Wave Makers. Gou's campaign was mired by allegations that it was buying signatures. By November 2023, at least 20 separate investigations into fraudulent practices and signature forgeries were opened. 7 people were arrested in what was described as a 'signature-buying scheme' a few weeks earlier. Gou denied these allegations, and claimed that individuals who were buying signatures were acting on their own accord and were not part of his official campaign. Gou submitted his signatures on 1 November 2023. On 13 November, over 900,000 of Gou's submitted signatures were validated by the election commission, qualifying him to run the presidential election. Amidst the deadline to register with the Central Election Commission, Gou released a statement on 24 November dropping out of the race. In a statement, Gou said "I'm dropping out, but my aspirations live on." He did not endorse a candidate.
Other withdrawn candidates Wang Chien-shien (independent), President of Control Yuan (2008–2014) Su Huan-chih (Taiwan Renewal Party), Tainan County Magistrate (2001–2010)
Disqualified candidates Nine of ten third-party or independent presidential tickets did not meet the signature petition requirements set by the Central Election Commission, and were disqualified from the election. Including Gou, only five presidential candidates and their running mates attempted to submit signatures. The rest are as follows: Republished as: and Wu Chao-sheng (巫超勝) 256,773 signatures submitted, 2 valid endorsements Cheng Tzu-tsai and () 608 signatures submitted, 478 valid endorsements and Chou Ke-chi (周克琦) 146 signatures submitted, 58 valid endorsements Fu Yin (符音) and Hsieh Tsu-hsuan (謝祖鉉) 113 signatures submitted, 91 valid endorsements
Election campaign