Taiwan's Penghu county is seeing an unusually heated run-up to its local elections, and prosecutors are already deep into vote-buying investigations — a warning sign for anyone hoping for a clean race.

• Penghu's district prosecutors have taken on 35 election interference cases since a joint investigation platform opened in June.
• Local races are tightly contested, which is pushing candidates and backers toward illegal tactics.
• Police, investigators, anti-corruption, immigration and military police units are all coordinating on enforcement.
• Five priority targets: vote buying, fake household registrations, foreign interference, election gambling rings, and disinformation.
• Investigators are combing through addresses with suspiciously many registered residents, including collapsed buildings, to catch people registered just to vote.

Outlook: Enforcement will intensify over the final three months before the vote, with a reward of up to NT$20 million offered to anyone who reports violations.