that he would turn out to be "another Lee Teng-hui" (who founded the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union and was expelled from the party) or that he would leave the KMT to join the TSU if he lost the election. At the same time, Ma needed to dispel the stereotype of him as an urban Mainlander from Taipei unconnected with rural southern Holo-speaking Taiwan. During the campaign both candidates attempted to dispel their stereotypes: Wang stressed his loyalty to the KMT and Republic of China (such as by singing patriotic songs from the Chiang Kai-shek-era) and gaining the support of conservative Mainlander heavyweights within the KMT. His Mainlander opponent Ma stressed his connection with the people of Taiwan and proposed measures such as moving some KMT Central Standing Committee meetings from Taipei to southern Taiwan. Dynamics Over 1 million KMT party members were eligible to vote. In the months leading to the election there was bitter debate between the two candidates over which party members were eligible to vote. While the Ma campaign wanted to limit the vote 300,000 party members fully paid-up in their annual dues, the Wang campaign argued that all 1.1 million card-carrying members would be eligible. The 300,000 members "in good standing" were mostly veterans and party members, considered part of the right-wing of the party, who were most likely to vote for Ma on the basis of his mainlander background. The 1.1 million members included a much greater proportion of native Taiwanese and some less enthusiastic supporters of the party who joined as a result of working for a state-run enterprise in which, before democratic reforms in the 1990s, KMT membership was encouraged and somewhat compelled. Finally it was agreed to that all card-carrying members would be able to vote as polls showed Ma running ahead of Wang even with the franchise opened. This request by Wang arguably backfired, as it might have very well been the case that members who were less involved with internal party politics became more attracted to Ma's personality. The chairmanship election coincided with elections for 985 party delegates for the KMT's 17th national party congress. Each voting booth had three ballot boxes: one ballot box for the party chairman, the second ballot box for the party delegates, and the third ballot box for KMT members from military villages also voting for delegates. Result See also Elections in the Republic of