「革新惡性讓賢選風」—重構我國對候選人賄選罪

Abstract

賄選行為在我國各類選舉盛行已久，被認為是破壞民主制度最為嚴重之「不良選風」，亦理所當然成為各類選舉刑罰中最受關注者。惟僅有對投票權人賄選行為，也就是俗稱的「買票」較受到政治學或法學研究青睞。反之，同樣以金錢污染選舉的「搓圓仔湯」行為，也就是對候選人賄選的相關研究屈指可數。

俗稱「搓圓仔湯」的對候選人賄選行為，在我國選舉史上並不少見，曾是地方派系或國民黨政府用來掌控選舉結果的手段之一。在民主轉型後，「搓圓仔湯」依然常見於地方選舉，在基層民意代表與村裡鄉鎮市長選舉上出現。甚至在近年的總統大選中亦沒有缺席，2016年的換柱案與2024年的藍白合，都曾被人質疑有違反此罪之嫌疑。

然而在民主政治中，候選人間之合縱連橫本是常態，政黨間利用手邊籌碼爭取最大利益，執政黨主席求勝選最大化而決定候選人，乃理所當然之事。然這類「選舉交易」行為，到底和「搓圓仔湯」之界線要如何認定？實務與學說至今似乎沒有一個明確的答案。

本文將試圖爬梳對候選人賄選行為在我國選舉史上扮演的角色，探詢該行為在我國的犯罪化歷程跟立法脈絡；整理我國實務與學說對於該條文之解釋與適用。並且以日本公職選舉法的立法設計，結合民主理念的發展，重新檢討對候選人賄選罪之存在必要性與保護法益內涵，建構出一個全新的對候選人賄選罪圖像。

Vote-buying has long been prevalent in various elections in Taiwan and is widely regarded as one of the most detrimental practices undermining the democratic system. Among election-related crimes, it has received the greatest legislative and public attention. However, academic discourse—particularly in political science and legal studies—has mainly focused on vote-buying directed at voters, while giving limited attention to the equally corruptive practice of bribing candidates to withdraw from elections, known colloquially as “making tangyuan” (搓圓仔湯).

The practice of candidate bribery has been a consistent feature throughout Taiwan's electoral history and was once a tool used by local factions or the Kuomintang government to control election outcomes. Even after Taiwan’s democratization, such practices remain common in local elections, especially among grassroots representatives and township-level contests. Notably, suspicions of candidate bribery have surfaced in major national elections, including the 2016 KMT presidential candidate replacement incident and the 2024 “Blue-White coalition” negotiations.

In a democratic context, political bargaining between candidates and strategic alliance formation among parties are commonplace. Political parties often use available resources to maximize their electoral gains, and it is considered natural for a party leader to select candidates with an eye toward maximizing victory. Nonetheless, distinguishing legitimate political strategy from unlawful “election trading” or “candidate bribery” remains a challenging legal issue, and neither judicial practice nor academic theory in Taiwan has provided a clear standard.

This article explores the historical and legal evolution of candidate bribery offenses in Taiwan, analyzing both the legislative context and the interpretative approaches in practice and scholarship. Drawing on the Japanese Public Offices Election Act and democratic theory, it aims to reassess the necessity and legal interest protected by the offense of candidate bribery, and ultimately proposes a reconstructed conceptual framework for understanding and regulating this offense in Taiwan.