Taiwan is bracing for its November 28 local elections and referendums, with the government warning that foreign meddling, vote-buying and fake news could taint the result.

• Premier Cho Jung-tai has ordered police, prosecutors and anti-corruption agencies to crack down on vote-buying and election violence over the next three months.
• The bigger worry is outside interference: foreign-backed influence, illegal election betting pools and disinformation aimed at swaying the outcome.
• Law enforcement has been told to share intelligence across agencies and tighten joint defenses so the vote stays clean and credible.
• On a separate front, scam losses have dropped sharply: phone and online fraud cases fell 44% and money lost fell 67% from a year ago, with fake investment scams collapsing from hundreds of millions of NT dollars a day to a fraction of that.
• Online shopping scams are going the other way, up 48%, hitting farmers and small businesses, while ransomware attacks on hospitals, factories and hotels are pushing the government to write new cybersecurity guidance for companies.

Outlook: Expect a heavy security and anti-disinformation push through late November, with Taipei treating the election as a target for outside pressure.