The CEC during the 2016 elections. The CEC during the 2016 elections. (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The results of Taiwan’s elections should be known by 10 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 11), with priority given to counting the presidential ballots, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with counting beginning immediately afterward, CNA reported.

If enough staff are present, polling stations can form two separate teams to count ballots, the CEC said Friday (Jan. 10). One team can first count the ballots in the presidential election and then those for local district legislators, while the other team can focus on votes for the legislator-at-large party lists.

The Legislative Yuan counts 113 seats, 73 of which will be awarded according to local districts, with 6 reserved for indigenous candidates, and 34 awarded by proportional representation to candidates on party lists, known as at-large candidates.

If not enough staff are present at polling stations, then the votes for the presidential candidates will be counted first, followed by the ballots for the district’s legislative seat and finally the at-large votes, the CEC said.

Counting the votes has generally been efficient, though problems occurred in November 2018 due to the combination of nine-level local and regional elections with 10 referendums. At several polling stations, many voters were still lining up long after the official closing time of 4 p.m. This time, no referendum is on the ballot paper.

Taiwan has more than 19 million voters eligible for the presidential election.