The election for mayor of Douliu City in Yunlin County has become a three-way contest, with all three candidates making welfare for older residents their signature policy — good news for senior voters.

• The Kuomintang has nominated Huang Yu-mei, deputy speaker of the city representative council, while county councillor Lai Shu-nu has left the party to run as an independent, splitting the pan-blue camp.
• Lai Shu-nu is campaigning on a "Douliu senior card," which would be topped up with points each month for use on transport and shopping, along with an increased Double Ninth Festival cash gift for the elderly.
• Yin Ling-ying, a former legislator nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party, wants to raise the senior allowance from NT$500 to NT$3,000 and also increase subsidies for meals at community canteens for the elderly.
• Huang Yu-mei proposes paying the senior allowance on a sliding scale by age, and setting up community canteens and care centres for older residents in all forty of the city's villages.

Outlook: The split in the pan-blue camp has left the race deadlocked, and the policy contest over ever-larger benefits for the elderly is expected to intensify further.