Election Night Scandal: Sanlih News Reprimanded for Vote Mislabeling and Inflation Controversy

On the night of the local elections on November 26, 2022, during the live broadcast of the Pingtung County Magistrate vote counting, Sanlih News swapped and mislabeled the vote tallies of KMT candidate Su Ching-chuan and DPP candidate Chou Chun-mi. The error erroneously showed Su leading before it was hastily corrected. Additionally, in the Taipei mayoral and other counts, Sanlih faced multiple citizen complaints for alleged 'vote padding'—reporting counts that inflated numbers far ahead of the official Central Election Commission (CEC) statistics, or showing highly irregular freezes and jumps for specific candidates. The counting chaos severely damaged public trust and prompted Su Ching-chuan to file a lawsuit for a recount. In May 2023, following an investigation, the NCC formally issued an administrative instruction reprimanding Sanlih for severe counting reporting failures, ordering it to submit a correction plan. The scandal exposed Sanlih's highly unprofessional manipulation and misdirection during critical democratic elections.