> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.taiwanquest.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Voting in Taipei - URL: https://www.taiwanquest.com/voting-in-taipei/ - Published: 2026-10-29T07:07:06.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-29T08:12:18.000Z - Description: Traveling to a de facto embassy to vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election… - Author: Zhen-Kang Unlike in Taiwan, where citizens must travel to their registered home electorate to vote in person on election day, overseas New Zealanders can vote remotely—at any time during the couple of weeks leading up to an election. We can vote online, or in person at an embassy. In Taiwan’s case, this means a *de facto* embassy: the “New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office”. (The New Zealand and Taiwan governments have an unofficial relationship. Consequently, the *de facto* Taiwan embassy in New Zealand—[which I visited last year](https://www.taiwanquest.com/on-briefly-returning-to-new-zealand/)—is called the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office”.) For New Zealanders, online voting is exclusively available to those of us who are overseas. I voted online in 2017 (from Australia) and 2023 (from Taiwan), but both times it felt a little flaky. Despite having worked in digital publishing for two decades, I couldn’t be sure I’d satisfied the very specific resolution and contrast requirements for printed-then-scanned voting documents—and I had no way of knowing whether my vote would be rejected on technical grounds. [This year, the election is too close to call](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics%5Felection-2026/2211553/rnz-reid-research-poll-national-below-disastrous-2020-result-as-opportunity-surges). So, wanting to be absolutely sure my vote will be counted, I opted to vote in person in Taipei… ![Zuoying High Speed Rail Station in Kaoshiung, Taiwan, at 8:37pm on a Wednesday night.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/kaohsiung-zuoying-hsr-station.webp) My journey started last night after work, when I caught an 8:55pm bullet train to Taipei. The 350 km journey took 94 minutes. ![A sticker inside a Taipei MRT car which has a QR code and the label “AI Customer Service”.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/taipei-mrt-ai-customer-service-qr-code.webp) This morning, I rode the Taipei MRT to the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office. [Taipei has just been rated as having the world’s best public transport](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6459491)—but I wonder if “AI Customer Service” would be so well-received in other countries. Here in Taiwan, where AI is creating jobs rather than replacing them, and where the economy—driven by the tech sector—is [forecast to grow by around 12% this year](https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202610160008), AI is viewed extremely favorably. ![A wide, leafy street in Taipei, with a giant inflatable Pikachu (Pokemon) sculpture outside a tall modern office tower.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/new-zealand-office-building-taipei-taiwan.webp) The New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office is in this glass tower, just behind Pikachu. ![Entrance to the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office in Taipei.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/new-zealand-commerce-and-industry-office-in-taipei.webp) On the 9th floor, reception is to the left of this sign. Note the temporary orange “Vote Here / Pōti i Konei” sign. ![A man, partially obscured, at a voting booth.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/casting-my-vote.webp) I completed a special vote declaration form, then cast my vote in the cardboard booth. ![Taipei 101 and other sky scrapers visible above green trees in the foreground.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/taipei-101.webp) On leaving, Taipei 101—my favorite tall building ([recently scaled by Alex Honnold in a daring Netflix livestream](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/how-to-watch-alex-honnold-skyscraper-climb-live-netflix))—was visible directly ahead. I didn’t have time for a climb (heh), but… ![The Xinyi Apple Store in Taipei, Taiwan, viewed from across a busy street.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/xinyi-apple-store.webp) …I had a couple of minutes to spare, so swung by the nearby Apple Store to check out the new iPhone Duo. ![A man’s hand, holding an iPhone Duo in its closed position.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/iphone-duo-hands-on.webp) I’m not gonna buy one, but I liked it a lot more than I expected. ![Point-of-view shot of a satchel bag in the front basket of an electric YouBike, riding on a paved sidewalk in Taipei.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/electric-youbike-taipei.webp) I rode an electric YouBike back to the MRT station, and at Taipei Main Station transferred to the bullet train. ![Point-of-view shot of a MacBook Air in use in a Taiwan High Speed Rail car, on the route from Taipei to Kaoshiung. The open laptop displays a blog editing page that shows the previous YouBike photo from this post on the Taiwan Quest blog.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2026/10/taiwan-high-speed-rail-interior.webp) I’m on the bullet train now, 15 minutes from Kaohsiung—where I have a work commitment in one-and-a-half hours. And my democratic duty is done! --- 🗳️