‘Ticket Back Home’ campaign adds routes and subsidies to help voters cast ballots in local elections

Nov 3, 2026, 3:24 PM (GMT+8)Hanna Bilinski

The Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy (TYAD) reached the crowdfunding goal for their “Ticket Back Home” project within nine days of going live, enabling the addition of 5-10 additional routes on top of the initially planned 25 routes eligible for a NT$128 (US$3.90) reimbursement. The project aims to lower the cost for people aged 18 to 35 to return home to cast their ballots.

TYAD announced they have reached their NT$450,000 (US$13,700) crowdfunding goal at a press conference this Tuesday. Managing Director Alice Yang (楊姿潁) explained that the group decided to add more central-to-southern and southern-to-northern routes to meet demand; they are also adding a subsidy for ferry and plane tickets for eligible voters from Taiwan’s outlying islands.

“First, purchase the NT$128 crowdfunding plan on the website. Next, the crowdfunding page will have an outlying island subsidy form you can fill out. After the election, send your ticket or an image of your ticket to our association for reimbursement. The specific amount is still under discussion, but we can confirm that we will give priority to students from low- and middle-income households,” Yang said.

The second-phase crowdfunding goal is NT$800,000 (US$24,370), with the campaign running until November 21. Yang said there are still available seats on the first phase’s 25 routes and encouraged voters to check or purchase on the crowdfunding platform.

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