Taiwan’s Penghu County rejects casino push for the second time

Residents of Taiwan’s Penghu County have once again rejected bringing casino gambling to the outlying island region.

On Saturday, the Penghu government announced that voters had overwhelmingly rejected the idea of authorizing casino development as a means of driving tourism in the county. The referendum results showed 26,598 votes against the casino plan and just 6,210 votes in favor.

This is the second time Penghu’s residents have pushed back against the drive to bring casinos to Taiwan, and this year’s results were even more strongly opposed. In 2009, around 56% of votes cast were opposed to casinos compared to 81% this time around.

Turnout for this year’s referendum was smaller than in 2009. While around half of eligible voters cast a ballot in 2009, this year’s poll was under 40%, suggesting an element of voter fatigue on the issue. The head of Penghu’s pro-casino push said he doubted his group would mount a similar effort in 2019, the earliest possible date for another referendum.