Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) will remain in office after a majority of voters rejected his recall in a public vote on Sunday.

With vote counts reported from all polling stations, figures from the Keelung City Election Commission show that there were 69,934 votes (44.85 percent of valid votes) in favor of recalling Hsieh and 86,014 votes (55.15 percent of valid votes) in favor of him remaining in office as of 6:22 p.m.

Not only did a majority of voters reject the recall, the number of ballots in favor of Hsieh stepping down from office did not meet the required 25 percent threshold of 77,700 ballots.

Therefore, according to Taiwan's Public Officials Election and Recall Act, Hsieh will continue to be mayor of the northern port city and cannot face another recall vote for the remainder of his term in office.

The results show a voter turnout of 50.44 percent of 310,797 eligible voters. The final results are pending certification by the Central Election Commission.

In all seven districts, the number of votes in favor of Hsieh stepping down was lower than the number of votes rejecting the recall.

Two-hundred-and-eighty-three polling stations were opened between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m across Keelung's seven administrative districts, according to the Keelung City Election Commission.