In 2012 the Greens received nearly 230,000 votes (1.74%), and this year the Green Party and the Social Democratic Union coalition received 308,000 votes (2.53%). Although there is growth, we were still unable to cross the party vote threshold of 3.5% and the non-constituency (list) threshold of 5%. Pre-election polls had indicated that we could break through, but in the end there was a significant gap between our expectations and the election results. Taiwan's presidential elections this year led to a shift in power from the formerly ruling Kuomingtang party (KMT or Nationalist) to the Democratic People’s Movement (DPP), and the third time in which Taiwan experienced a change in the government party since the end of martial law in 1987. This is an important achievement for a country with a relatively recent transition to democracy. The election outcome is a result of the many social conflicts experienced in Taiwan during the time in which the KMT have been in power, from 2008 to 2016, resulting in clashes between civil society movements and the KMT. Despite the DPP actually contributing little to civil society movements in recent years, the DPP gained the most politically.