Taiwan's local elections in late November are shaping up as a messier fight than the usual two-party contest, with a 38-year-old political newcomer and an 83-year-old joke candidate crowding into the Tainan mayoral race.

• Registration for the nationwide local elections closes tomorrow, and the main Tainan candidates are already signed up: the KMT's Hsieh Lung-chieh and the DPP's Chen Ting-fei.
• Hsieh is campaigning to end 33 years of DPP rule in Tainan; Chen is running to become the city's first woman mayor.
• Newcomer Yeh Jen-wen, a street-performance advocate, says Chen refused to sign the registration form next to him and demanded a fresh one, calling it bullying.
• The race also drew back 83-year-old Hsiao Lin-hung, who once asked voters to give him zero votes and accidentally pulled in 38,000.
• In New Taipei, the closer fight, a new poll puts the KMT's Li Si-chuan ahead of the DPP's Su Chiao-hui by under 7 points.

Outlook: With registration closing, attention shifts to New Taipei and Taoyuan, where polling gaps and corruption accusations are likely to drive the next three months of campaigning.