What Are the Nine-in-One Elections?

30-second overview: The term "Nine-in-One" only entered widespread use in 2014 — the year Taiwan held its first single-day election for nine categories of local public office. But this configuration did not appear suddenly in 2014. It is the cumulative result of six milestones: the 1967 upgrade of Taipei City, the 1979 upgrade of Kaohsiung, the first direct election of special municipality mayors in 1994, the 2010 Five Municipalities upgrade, the 2014 upgrade of Taoyuan, and the 2014 creation of mountain indigenous district mayors. Behind a single ballot with nine offices lies the complete evolution of Taiwan's local self-governance system over three decades. This article is not about "how to vote in 2026" — it is about why the Nine-in-One framework is worth cherishing.

Where the Term "Nine-in-One" Comes From

November 29, 2014, was the first day Taiwan held a single-day election for nine categories of local public office. The media began widely using the term "Nine-in-One Elections" — prior elections had also featured multiple offices on the same day, but the combinations were different ¹.

The term "Nine-in-One" is straightforward: nine types of office combined into one day of voting. But behind this simple framework lies the most complete history of local self-governance evolution since the 1947 Constitution. Before 2014, the most complex local elections were "Seven-in-One" or "Five-in-One," with the number of offices increasing incrementally as cities were upgraded ².

What Are the Nine Offices

Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act and the Local Government Act, the nine categories of public office voted on the same day in 2026 are [^4]:

1. Special Municipality Mayors (6 seats)

The chiefs of the six special municipalities: Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. Four-year term, eligible for one consecutive re-election. Responsible for municipal administration, education, social welfare, policing, and other affairs.

The history of this office traces back to 1967 (Taipei's upgrade) and 1979 (Kaohsiung's upgrade), but from 1967 to 1994 these were appointed positions; direct elections began only in 1994. For detailed history and institutional evolution, see 2026 九合一選舉 (2026 Nine-in-One Elections).

2. Special Municipality Councilors (approx. 380 seats, subject to council size)

Representatives of the six special municipality councils. Four-year term, no term limits. Responsible for budget review, municipal oversight, and legislation.

Councilor elections use the "Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) in multi-member districts" system designed in the 19800s — a completely different direction from the Legislative Yuan's 2008 shift to a single-district two-vote system. For details, see 議員制度 (Councilor System).

3. County and City Mayors (16 seats)

The chiefs of the 16 counties and cities that are not special municipalities — the three county-administered cities of Keelung, Hsinchu, and Chiayi, plus the thirteen counties of Yilan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien, Taitung, Penghu, Kinmen, and Lienchiang ⁴. Four-year term, eligible for one consecutive re-election.

4. County and City Councilors (approx. 532 seats)

Council representatives of non-special-municipality counties and cities. Four-year term, no term limits. Also uses the SNTV system.

5. Township and City Mayors (approx. 198 seats)

Chiefs of townships, towns, and county-administered cities within non-special-municipality areas. Four-year term, eligible for one consecutive re-election. Township and city mayors are Taiwan's grassroots elected chiefs — closer to the community than county/city mayors, with more substantive administrative power than village/ward wardens.

6. Township and City Councilors (approx. 2,148 seats)

Representatives of township and city representative councils. Four-year term, no term limits.

7. Mountain Indigenous District Mayors (6 seats)

Wulai (New Taipei), Fuxing (Taoyuan), Heping (Taichung), Namaxia (Kaohsiung), Taoyuan (Kaohsiung), and Maolin (Kaohsiung). Four-year term.

This office was newly created when Taoyuan was upgraded in 2014 — to prevent the technical act of "upgrading" from stripping indigenous communities of their right to self-governance. For details, see 直轄市山地原住民區長 (Special Municipality Mountain Indigenous District Mayors).

8. Mountain Indigenous District Councilors (approx. 50 seats)

Representatives of the six mountain indigenous district councils.

9. Village and Borough Wardens (7,748 seats)

Taiwan's most grassroots elected chiefs. A "li" (borough) in a special municipality, or a "cun" (village) or "li" in a non-special-municipality township or city — 7,748 in total across Taiwan. Four-year term, no term limits.

Village and borough wardens are the only office in Taiwan's elections where independents dominate — the scale is too small (an average borough has 2,000–5,000 residents), and knowing every household matters more than party affiliation. For details, see 村里長制度 (Village and Borough Warden System).

Why "Nine" Offices, Not Eight or Ten

Each office has its own historical story. But the number "nine" was not determined at the time of the 1947 Constitution — it accumulated continuously over 65 years from 1949 to 2014:

1967 — Taipei City upgraded to a special municipality. Taiwan had its first "special municipality mayor" position (though it was appointed at the time). But local elected offices such as township mayors and village wardens had already been established in the 1950s.

1979 — Kaohsiung City upgraded to a special municipality. Taipei and Kaohsiung became co-equal special municipalities, but both mayors remained appointed ⁵.

November 26, 1994 — After the passage of the Province-County Self-Governance Act and the Special Municipality Self-Governance Act, the mayors of Taipei and Kaohsiung were directly elected for the first time. Chen Shui-bian was elected mayor of Taipei, and Wu Den-yih was elected mayor of Kaohsiung. This was a pivotal milestone in Taiwan's local self-governance history ⁶.

1999 — The Local Government Act replaced the separate Province-County Self-Governance Act and Special Municipality Self-Governance Act, consolidating the legal framework for local self-governance nationwide. The legal foundation for the Nine-in-One structure was established here.

December 25, 2010 — The Five Municipalities upgrade: New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung (merged with the county), and Taipei simultaneously began operating as special municipalities. Taiwan's urban geography was restructured into the "Five Municipalities" configuration ⁷. At the same time, the elected status of "mountain indigenous township" chiefs in the original five counties was lost (upgraded to appointed district mayors), sparking controversy over indigenous self-governance rights.

2014 — Taoyuan upgraded to a special municipality, ushering Taiwan into the "Six Municipalities" era. Simultaneously, the Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Local Government Act creating the new offices of "mountial indigenous district mayor / district councilor" — partially restoring the indigenous elected self-governance rights lost during the 2010 upgrade ⁸.

November 29, 2014 — The first "Nine-in-One Election" held on a single day. The nine-office configuration has remained fixed ever since.

Structural Tensions in Institutional Design

The Nine-in-One framework may seem natural, but it is underpinned by several structural tensions, each of which continues to evolve:

Upgrading vs. Local Self-Governance

"Upgrading" is a core concept in Taiwan's urban governance — moving from a province-administered city to a special municipality changes budget scale, staffing, and administrative hierarchy. But upgrading also carries the side effect of "losing elected chiefs": the elected status of a county-administered city mayor disappears upon upgrade (replaced by an appointed district mayor).

This side effect occurred on a large scale during the 2010 Five Municipalities upgrade, particularly stripping the elected status of the chiefs of Kaohsiung County's three mountain indigenous townships (Namaxia / Taoyuan / Maolin). The same controversy was triggered again during the 2014 Taoyuan upgrade (Fuxing Township). The Legislative Yuan addressed this in 2014 through amendments to the Local Government Act, creating the "mountain indigenous district mayor" office as a remedy.

But the elected status of plainland township and city mayors continues to be lost due to upgrading — this structural issue has not yet been broadly remedied ⁹.

Divergence Between Special Municipality Councilors and Legislators

In 2008, legislators shifted to a "single-district two-vote system" (constituency + party list), while county and city councilors still use the 1980s-designed "Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) in multi-member districts" — both are elected representatives, but the institutional designs are completely different.

This divergence has persisted for 18 years. It is rooted in the entrenchment of local factions and party interests — but SNTV's impact on small parties / third forces / pluralistic representation is far deeper at the councilor level than at the legislator level. For details, see 議員制度 (Councilor System).

The Scale Paradox of Village and Borough Wardens

Taiwan has 7,748 village and borough wardens — more than the 6,600+ 7-Eleven stores. Every four years, 7,748 small-scale elections take place simultaneously. But the average electorate per village or borough is only 2,000–5,000 people, making the political economy of this office fundamentally different from the other eight — independents dominate, re-election rates exceed 80%, the monthly subsidy of NT$45,000 is not classified as a salary, and factional and personal relationships matter more than party affiliation ¹⁰.

For a detailed discussion, see 村里長制度 (Village and Borough Warden System).

The Dual Identity of Indigenous Districts

Mountain indigenous district mayors are legally both "special municipality districts" and "indigenous self-governance units" — a dual identity that creates multiple tensions in resource allocation, cultural policy, and land management. District mayors must coordinate across three layers: the special municipality government, the central Council of Indigenous Peoples, and tribal councils — a role entirely different from that of an ordinary "district mayor."

For details, see 直轄市山地原住民區長 (Special Municipality Mountain Indigenous District Mayors).

The Concrete Scenario: Nine Offices on One Ballot

On Saturday, November 28, 2026, at 8:00 AM, polling stations across all 22 counties and cities open simultaneously ¹¹. A voter entering a polling station goes through the following process:

1. Check-in — Present national ID and seal. Staff verify against the voter registry.
2. Receive ballots — Depending on household registration location, receive the corresponding ballots. Special municipality voters receive: special municipality mayor / special municipality councilor / borough warden — three ballots (six special municipality population = approx. 15 million voters). Non-special-municipality voters receive: county/city mayor / county/city councilor / township/city mayor / township/city councilor / village warden or borough warden — five ballots (other counties and cities = approx. 8 million voters).
3. Enter the voting booth — Mark one candidate on each ballot. Village warden candidates may number 3–10; councilor candidates may number 30–50 (multi-member districts). Average ballot-reading time is 5–15 minutes.
4. Cast votes — Deposit each ballot into its corresponding ballot box.

Of the nine offices, each voter actually receives 3–5 ballots (depending on whether their household registration is in a special municipality, a mountain indigenous district, or an outlying island). Indigenous voters additionally receive indigenous councilor / district mayor / district councilor ballots.

Actual ballot colors: special municipality mayor (red) / county/city mayor (red) / special municipality councilor (yellow) / county/city councilor (yellow) / township/city mayor (white) / township/city councilor (white) / village/borough warden (green) / mountain indigenous district mayor (blue) / mountain indigenous district councilor (blue) — color coding prevents depositing ballots in the wrong box ¹².

International Comparison: Is "Nine-in-One" Unique to Taiwan?

Democratic countries around the world design "same-day voting" differently. Taiwan's "Nine-in-One" is relatively complex but not unique:

United States: Federal / state / local elections are often spread across different years. But on certain election days (the first Tuesday in November), voters may cast ballots for president + Congress + governor + local referendums + local councilors + mayors + judges (some states elect judges) — in Texas, a single day may feature more than 20 items on the ballot ¹³.

Japan: Unified local elections are held every four years, with same-day voting for governors / prefectural assembly members / municipal mayors / municipal assembly members. But these four categories of elections are not on a uniform national date — each prefecture can choose a different voting day. The degree of "unification" is lower than in Taiwan ¹⁴.

South Korea: "전국동시지방선거" (Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections) are held every four years, with same-day voting for metropolitan city/province governors / superintendents of education / metropolitan city/province councilors / district/city/county chiefs / district/city/county councilors / school board members / proportional representative councilors / education committee members — similar in logic to Taiwan's Nine-in-One, but with an independent superintendent of education election (the education chief is independent of the executive chief) ¹⁵.

United Kingdom: Local elections are spread out, with city council / county council / police commissioner elections often on different dates. The number of offices voted on the same day is usually fewer than three.

Germany: Under federalism, the dates of state-level local elections are determined by each state. The number of offices voted on the same day varies by state (usually 1–3).

From an international perspective, Taiwan's Nine-in-One framework is closest to the South Korean model — same-day voting for multiple offices on a uniform national date. The difference is Taiwan's independent "mountain indigenous district" offices — a concrete institutional response to indigenous self-governance rights that most countries lack.

Why This Framework Is Worth Cherishing

The Nine-in-One was not a final design planned in 1947 at the time of constitutional drafting — it is the result of 65 years of gradual accumulation from 1950 to 2014. Each office has its own historical story, and each institutional milestone corresponds to a choice made in its era.

For voters, this framework means that behind a single ballot lies a complete local self-governance system — from village wardens to special municipality mayors, from township councilors to county/city councilors, every four years the people can simultaneously re-elect all local chiefs and representatives. This is rare in the world.

For candidates, this framework means diverse campaign logics — special municipality mayors rely on policy debates, councilors rely on SNTV vote management, village wardens rely on local relationship-building, and indigenous district chiefs rely on tribal networks. The political economy of each office is entirely different, but same-day voting means all candidates share the same election cycle.

For democratic infrastructure, this framework means that the CEC, county and city election commissions, the Household Registration Administration, the National Police Agency, the Investigation Bureau, the Control Yuan, media outlets, civil society groups, g0v engineers, and fact-checking centers — an entire ecosystem of institutions stress-tests its capabilities in a single-day exercise every four years.

The November 28, 2026 election will be Taiwan's sixth Nine-in-One same-day vote. Each one is a stress test of this infrastructure. For detailed 2026 election context and external pressure analysis, see 2026 九合一選舉 (2026 Nine-in-One Elections).

Complete set of related institutional articles: 投票權門檻歷史 (Voting Rights Threshold History) · 政治獻金透明度 (Political Donation Transparency) · 中選會制度 (CEC System) · 議員制度 (Councilor System) · 村里長制度 (Village and Borough Warden System) · 直轄市山地原住民區長 (Special Municipality Mountain Indigenous District Mayors) · 選舉公報 (Election Bulletins)

Curated hub for democratic infrastructure: Politics Hub

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v1.0 | 2026-05-27 | Born from Zheyu's directive "help me place all article-type pieces one by one into article-inbox" + Option D decision, Tier 1.1 #1 anchor article.