Taiwan's police force says it's mobilizing heavily to protect the integrity of the upcoming local elections and referendum, a neutral but important move for the island's democratic process.

• Police plan to deploy roughly 46,000 officers on voting day to guard over 18,000 polling stations.
• Authorities are targeting vote-buying, illegal gambling rings, violence, deepfake disinformation, and foreign interference or cross-border intimidation tied to the election.
• Two rounds of pre-election crackdowns have already hit gangs, illegal guns, gambling, and shady money flows.
• Police say they'll move fast to remove deepfake and fake-news content and trace its source before it spreads further.

Outlook: Expect heavy police presence and continued crackdowns through voting day, with authorities stressing they'll stay neutral while cracking down hard on fraud and foreign meddling.