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Home Issues Backissues Volume 32, No.2 It’s Not That Simple: A Large-scale Explorative Analysis of Indigenous People’s Voter Turnout in Taiwan

It’s Not That Simple: A Large-scale Explorative Analysis of Indigenous People’s Voter Turnout in Taiwan

Jinhyeok Jang, Daniel Davies
2025 / 11
Volume 32, No.2

pp.39-76
10.6612/tjes.202511_32(2).0002
Paper

Abstract

This explorative study employs a large-scale analysis of individual turnout data from the 2016 and 2020 presidential and legislative elections, alongside the 2018 local elections and referenda in Taiwan, to advance our understanding of Indigenous voting behaviour in three ways. Firstly, we challenge the conventional wisdom that Indigenous voters exhibit lower turnout rates compared to the non-Indigenous electorate. Secondly, we further compare turnout differences among Highland and Lowland voters. Lastly, we analyse turnout variations across different types of ballots: national and local elections and referendum
bills. Contrary to prevailing international and domestic norms, we provide strong empirical evidence that Indigenous voters are diverse and dynamic in their voting behaviours, and this diversity extends not only in comparison to the Han voters but also within the Indigenous population, interacting with the different types of elections.

Keywords

Indigenous people

voting behaviour

election

referendum

Taiwan politics