My comment:
(a) Regarding quotation 1. I always wonder how Taiwan knows whether I am still alive and whether the roll of registered voters include me. Now I know.
(b) 2008年中华民国总统选举 https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/2008年中華民國總統選舉
(马英九/萧万长 (KMT) beat 谢长廷/苏贞昌 (DPP) by 2.2 million votes, 58.45% v 41.55%)