Thirty-year-old Elaine Liu of Taipei County is having a tough time deciding who to vote for in that county's magistrate election, saying she is fed up with politicians trading "one-sided" accusations.

"The year's election campaign has been really ugly," Liu said recently, complaining that the mudslinging would not help her decide which candidate was more qualified to lead the county.

"And even the 24-hour cable stations can't tell me which accusations are true and which are false," Liu said.

She originally was leaning toward voting for Democratic Progressive Party nominee Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) for his clean image in his race against KMT candidate Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋).

But she admitted she's rethinking her choice because "Luo has adopted the tactic of attacking Chou's integrity rather than telling the voters how he will make the county better," Liu said.

She is just one of many voters around Taiwan struggling to fight through the mud in a campaign where candidates seem to be competing more based on who can "unearth" the most dirt about their rivals.

In the 23 counties and cities where voters will elect new local government heads, candidates in at least 10 of those have accused their opponents of being involved in scandals that challenge their integrity.

Among the favorite attacks? Accusing a candidate of capitalizing on their political power to borrow money without collateral and then not repaying the loan, or alleging that they helped businessmen get favorable deals or operate illegally in exchange for kickbacks.

The trading of accusations has produced hundreds of lawsuits, with the accused suing their rivals for slander, and the accusers countersuing for being the targets of "false charges."

The Taipei County race that has left Liu and many other voters in a quandary is one of the most explicit examples of "negative campaigning," said Tunghai University political science professor Wang Yeh-lih (王業立).

And it may be having some effect. Chou at one point enjoyed a comfortable lead in the polls, but that has changed after Luo accused him of leaving unpaid loans behind when he was a member of the Provincial Assembly between 1994 and 1998.

While Chou answered Luo's attacks by reiterating that the issue had been dealt with in the courts - which found him not guilty - the latest polls show the margin between the two candidates has narrowed.

In internal polls taken by the DPP and KMT last week, Luo trails by 2 and 7 percent respectively, after previous polls showed that the DPP nominee was behind by as many as 15 points.

Wang said U.S. presidential candidates often resort to similar tactics, especially in tight races where a small swing in support can be decisive.

"But negative campaigning in Taiwan has even become more popular than it is in the United States," Wang asserted. He attributed the trend to two factors - the special characteristics of local voters and the media.

The electorate, in particular swing voters, pay attention to disclosures that call into question a candidate's integrity, according to Wang.

"Local media also shows greater interest in updating and following the exposes of these alleged scandals during the campaign," instead of spending time on exploring the candidates' positions on issues, Wang believed.

Professor Shih Cheng-fang of Tamkang University argued that recent election campaigns have turned into races where candidates "compete to prove to the voters that they are not the worst candidate in the election with regard to personal integrity and morality."

Shih said Taiwan is different from Europe, where differences between left and right play heavily on the choices of voters. Here Taiwan's status is the top issue.

But compared to last year's presidential poll, the magistrate and mayoral elections do not provide a battleground pitting Taiwan independence against unification with China, Shih added.

"Taiwanese voters are not yet as sophisticated (as Europeans) in exercising their voting rights in a democracy," Shih suggested. They vote emotionally and based on information gathered from election campaigns, said Shih, an expert in public administration science.

He also noted that candidates in Taiwan are still reluctant to improve themselves to campaign in a forward-looking way and gain voter support with explicit visions and constructive platforms, which leaves negative campaigning as an attractive alternative.

Supporting Shih's view, Liu said she used to read candidates' platforms in the electoral bulletin issued before previous elections.

"But the platform of many candidates always disappointed me, because obviously they did not take it seriously," Liu said.

Liu acknowledged, though, that, "I'm in the minority of voters in Taiwan to take candidates' platforms so seriously. Most people, including my family, vote according to their partisan pan-blue or pan-green preference."

Shih believes that Luo's attacks on Chou in Taipei County could prove successful.

"Luo may win the election if he can persuade more DPP supporters to go out and cast their ballots on election day," Shih predicted. He also attributed the success of Luo's attack to Chou's failure to immediately and forcefully counter the allegations.

"Chou is likely to lose the battle because of such negligence," Shih warned.

KMT Legislator Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) disagreed, however. Lin said Chou has put the issue behind him by citing the court ruling that upheld his innocence.

Formerly mayor of Banciao City, Taipei County, Lin argued that the competition for the top office in Taipei County has always ended up as a showdown between rival partisan pan-blue and pan-green supporters.

"Anything else will be of little significance in the end of the campaign," he believed.

While Luo's negative attacks in Taipei County could work, the DPP's allegations in Taichung City against incumbent KMT Mayor Jason Hu (胡?強) are less likely to prove fruitful, both Wang and Shih agreed.

With Hu leading DPP candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) by big margins in polls, the DPP has attacked Hu for including his 10 years of overseas study in the United Kingdom as part of his years of public service when filing for his retirement pension.

Dubbing the DPP's charges as "campaign rhetoric," Hu remained indifferent to the attack and said he would tackle the issue only when the court subpoenas him and demands that he account for the dispute.

The situation in Taichung City is different to Taipei County, Wang said, because of the big gap between Hu's and Lin's popularity.

Shih believed the charges against Hu wouldn't resonate nearly as loudly as those made against the KMT's Chou in Taipei County.

"Most ordinary people who have experienced the pressure of having to pay money they borrowed have a clearer idea about how privileged it is not to repay an outstanding loan," Shih explained.

On the other hand, voters may not identify personally with Hu's retirement pension controversy because it is not a benefit everyone enjoys, Shih believed.

Liu said that should the mudslinging trend intensify, she might not vote in the future. How many others feel like her could be a key determinant on December 3, when turnout numbers may be as closely watched as the election returns themselves.