By RK Shih / Staff
Images via Liberty Times. Left: The crowd at Lin Tai-hua’s Saturday rally in Gangshan. Right: The candidate speaking at the rally.
Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺), a lawmaker in Kaohsiung, is one of four people running in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) primary to be the party’s candidate for mayor. At a rally on Saturday in Gangshan District (岡山區), one of the speakers told supporters that if they get a phone call for a political poll, they should pretend to be 20–30 years old, because that age group usually shows better support for her.
The Liberty Times reported that the Gangshan rally, which was billed as Lin’s first major mobilization for the DPP’s Kaohsiung mayoral primary, drew tens of thousands of supporters. The turnout itself drew attention in local political circles. However, the polling remarks quickly overshadowed the event.
Video circulating online shows a rally host telling the crowd, “If you get a polling call, say you are between 20 and 30 years old. It will help the polling numbers.”
Some online saw the “say you are 20-30 years old” as telling supporters to lie to influence the poll. Some compared it to past cases where rival party members were accused of using fake names to support their candidates.
Lin responded on Sunday, saying the remarks were taken out of context. She stated that the host was “providing an example” of how polling demographics can influence results. She said she did not ask people to lie and that her campaign will follow party rules.
“I would not knowingly violate rules,” Lin said. “The key point was to help citizens understand how polling works.”
Why this matters:
- In Taiwan, political parties often choose their candidates based on public opinion polls, not just party votes.
- Often, polls are conducted by phone, using only landline phones.
- Poll numbers can, therefore, make a big difference in deciding who gets to run.
- If a campaign encourages supporters to answer polls in a certain way, it can shift the results and change who wins the primary.
As of publication, the DPP’s Central Nomination and Selection Committee (選對會) has not issued a statement.
Simple summary:
A speaker at a candidate’s rally told supporters to adjust their answers in political polls. Critics say that’s cheating. The candidate says it was just an explanation of how polls work. The party hasn’t responded yet.
