Presidential elections in Taiwan
The election of the President and Vice President of the Republic of China is a universal direct election through secret vote by the Taiwanese citizens. The most recent election took place on January 11, 2020.
- The Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act states that a candidate for President or Vice President must be an ROC citizen, at least 40 years old, and a resident of Taiwan for a period of no less than 15 years with physical presence for not less than 6 consecutive months.
- The following persons shall not be registered as candidates for the President:
- * Military personnel
- * Election officials
- * People who hold foreign nationality or who hold residency of the People's Republic of China
- * People who restored their nationality or acquired nationality by naturalization
- The President and Vice President are nominated on a joint ticket. Political parties which have gained at least 5% of the votes at the last presidential or legislature election may nominate a set of candidates directly. For example, for the 2012 elections, only the Kuomintang and Democratic Progressive Party were qualified to nominate candidates through this rule. Alternatively, candidates may be nominated by a petition signed by eligible voters numbering no less than 1.5% of electors at the last legislature election.
List of presidential elections in Taiwan
| President | Election year | Winner | Other major candidates |
| 15 | 2020 | Tsai Ing-wen, William Lai – 57.1% | Han Kuo-yu, Chang San-cheng – 38.6% James Soong, Sandra Yu – 4.3% |
| 14 | 2016 | Tsai Ing-wen, Chen Chien-Jen – 56.1% | Eric Chu, Wang Ju-hsuan – 31.0% James Soong, Hsu Hsin-ying – 12.8% |
| 13 | 2012 | Ma Ying-jeou, Wu Den-yih – 51.60% | Tsai Ing-wen, Su Jia-chyuan – 45.63% James Soong, Lin Ruey-shiung – 2.77% |
| 12 | 2008 | Ma Ying-jeou, Vincent Siew – 58.45% | Frank Hsieh, Su Tseng-chang – 41.55% |
| 11 | 2004 | Chen Shui-bian, Annette Lu – 50.11% | Lien Chan, James Soong – 49.89% |
| 10 | 2000 | Chen Shui-bian, Annette Lu – 39.3% | James Soong, Chang Chau-hsiung – 36.8% Lien Chan, Vincent Siew – 23.1% |
| 9 | 1996 | Lee Teng-hui, Lien Chan – 54.0% | Peng Ming-min, Frank Hsieh – 21.1% Lin Yang-kang, Hau Pei-tsun – 14.9% Chen Li-an, Wang Ching-feng – 9.9% |