| Election Name: | 2013 Taichung legislative by-election |
| Country: | Taiwan |
| Type: | by-election |
| Vote Type: | Popular |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2012 Taiwanese legislative election |
| Previous Year: | 2012 |
| Next Election: | 2016 Taiwanese legislative election |
| Next Year: | 2016 |
| Turnout: | 48.89% |
| Image1: | Dajia Jenn Jann Temple from VOA (2) (cropped).jpg |
| Candidate1: | Yen Kuan-heng |
| Party1: | Kuomintang |
| Popular Vote1: | 66,457 |
| Percentage1: | 49.95% |
| Candidate2: | Chen Shih-kai |
| Party2: | Democratic Progressive Party |
| Popular Vote2: | 65,319 |
| Percentage2: | 49.09% |
| Legislator | |
| Before Election: | Yen Ching-piao |
| Before Party: | Non-Partisan Solidarity Union |
| After Election: | Yen Kuan-heng |
| After Party: | Kuomintang |
The 2013 Taichung legislative by-election was held in Taiwan on 23 January 2013 for the Taichung City Constituency II after the former legislator Yen Ching-piao was disqualified for corruption.[1]
The Yen family was powerful in Taichung's local politics.[2] Yen Ching-piao was the speaker of Taichung County Council in 1990s,[3] and was first elected to the Legislative Yuan, the parliament of Taiwan, in 2001. Yen, who joined the pan-blue Non-Partisan Solidarity Union in 2004, was re-elected three times in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
Yen has been hit by scandal since he entered politics, and was once jailed in 2001. On 28 November 2012, followed by rulings from lower courts and appeals, Yen was sentenced to jail for 3.5 years by the Supreme Court over grafting, abetting stand-in, and violating ammunition law, and was handed disfranchisement for 3 years. He therefore was disqualified and ceased to be a legislator.[4]
A total of three candidates ran in the by-election to succeed Yen, the candidate number was announced on 8 January 2013.[5]
Yen narrowly won the election and succeeded his father with a lead of less than 1%.[11]
The by-election was held less than two months after Yen was disqualified, earlier than the average of three months. DPP officials accused the authorities of trying to discourage other candidates to run, while the Central Election Commission officials said they considered holding the election before Lunar New Year holiday such that new legislator can be sworn in at the beginning of the new session.[12] The Yen family was also suspected of bribery during the campaign.[13]