TAIPEI - Taiwan's leadership and legislative elections will be held on Jan 16 next year, the island's election supervisory authority announced on Tuesday.

Polls will be open from 8 am to 4 pm local time, according to its statement.

The announcement came after the authority decided last month to synchronize the two elections to cut costs, make it more convenient for the public to vote and limit acrimony among political parties by reducing their campaign commitments.

Earlier, it said the synchronization could increase turnout, luring an additional 3.3 million voters to the polls.

According to rules in Taiwan, the next leadership election must complete voting before April 1, 2016, while voting for legislative elections must be completed before Jan 21, 2016.