June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's Supreme Court ruled that the March presidential election was valid, rejecting an opposition petition to void the poll 15 months after the vote.

The opposition alleged voting irregularities and fraud during the 2004 election campaign in its lawsuit. Another High Court panel on Nov. 4, 2004, rejected a suit to overturn President Chen Shui-bian's March 20 victory. The election issue divided the island's population of 23 million and led to weeks of street protests.

The Nationalist and People First parties claimed a gunshot wound Chen received on the eve of the election was a stunt to garner sympathy votes. They also said the election should be ruled invalid because many military personnel were on high alert after Chen's shooting and were unable to vote.

Today's ruling came 15 months after the Central Election Commission said Chen won the election by a margin of 0.2 percent of 13.5 million votes cast. In December last year, the Nationalist Party and their allies grabbed the majority in parliamentary elections, winning 114 of 225 seats.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Peng in Taipei at jpeng7@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 16, 2005 22:09 EDT