Taiwan's local election machinery is running smoothly, with candidate numbers holding steady for a fourth straight cycle — a neutral-to-positive sign for the island's democracy ahead of the November vote.

• Registration closed with 19,695 people competing for 11,051 local offices across Taiwan.
• The turnout of candidates is 130 fewer than four years ago, a normal fluctuation that has held near 20,000 for 12 years.
• 26 candidates are spouses from mainland China, seven more than last time — most running for village or borough chief.
• One case is drawing attention: an actress who gave up her Taiwanese household registration and health insurance and now lives in China has registered to run for New Taipei City council.
• Separately, only one of three referendum proposals cleared review — a measure to scrap the nuclear-free homeland policy; proposals on caning and traffic fine spending were rejected.

Outlook: Candidate eligibility checks finish by mid-October, ballot numbers are drawn on 23 October, and voting takes place on 28 November.