TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Foxconn founder Terry Gou declared his intention to join the 2024 presidential race as an independent candidate on Monday (Aug. 28). As Gou has not secured a nomination from any political party, he is obliged to obtain 289,666 petition signatures to officially join the race.
According to the 'Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act,' the statutory petition threshold is 1.5% of the total number of voters in the most recent legislative election.
Based on the 2020 legislative election, Gou will need to secure at least 289,666 petition signatures to officially register as a presidential candidate. To date, only Lin Yang-kang, Chen Li-an, James Soong, and Hsu Hsin-liang have successfully passed the threshold, yet none have won the election.
A petitioning candidate must submit a deposit of NT＄1 million (approximately US＄36,000). If the number of petitioners falls short of the required half, the candidate will lose the deposit.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has pledged to announce the petition results of the presidential and vice-presidential election by Nov. 14.