Taiwan: Kaohsiung Mayor loses recall vote

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yuto has lost the recall vote on June 6, with 42.14% of the voters turning out. The vote to remove was 939,090-25,051. The vote total itself is misleading, as Han's supporters would have stayed home due to the "absentee voter" provision -- 25% of eligible voters were required to cast ballots for the recall to count.

The replacement race will be held in 30 days. In seven days, there will be an appointment of an acting mayor who will be in office until the replacement wins the seat.

Han was the Kuomintang Presidential candidate in the recent election (he lost). The recall was officially about Han's handling of flooding in the town (though presumably it was also part of the presidential political wrangling).

Petitioners submitted about 400,000  and 377,662 have been verified. Petitioners needed 10% of eligible voters to sign (about 230,000).