Taiwan should learn from the US

The world awaits the vote recount in Florida which will decide the US presidential election. No one knows when the final results will be out, but in waiting with patience and calm, the US electorate and its electoral system have demonstrated the maturity of American democracy.

What is happening in Florida might be some of the most dramatic events in the history of democracy. The media initially reported that the Democratic Party's Al Gore had won in Florida, but the winner later shifted to Republican candidate George W. Bush. Gore congratulated Bush on the phone, but when it became apparent that the vote was too close to call and must therefore undergo a recount, Gore called Bush once again and told him that the campaign continued.

In other countries, such flip-flopping could very well have lead to mob violence. By calmly waiting for the recount results, both Gore and Bush have demonstrated self-restraint and their faith in the electoral system. Their supporters have remained active -- but not agitated -- so far through this election trauma. Both the candidates and their supporters deserve applause for their demeanor.

In Taiwan, after Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) defeated James Soong (宋楚瑜) by a margin of 300,000 votes in the March election, Soong's supporters vented their anger on the KMT by staging an illegal protest demanding Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) resignation as party chairman and surrounding the KMT headquarters for several days and clashing with police in the process. The behavior of Taiwanese voters leaves much to be improved upon.

The design of the electoral system and the independence of election administrators are key to the fairness of any election. Despite the extremely close call this time and despite the fact that Bush's younger brother is the incumbent governor of Florida, no one seems to doubt the fairness of the election process. Florida law also requires an automatic recount if the gap between the candidates is less than 0.5 percent, effectively preventing disputes over the vote count.

Vote-buying and vote-rigging were familiar terms under the rule of the KMT. The most famous vote-rigging case has to be the Chungli Incident (中壢事件) of 1977, when violent street protests broke out after rumors of vote-rigging began circulating after an election was held for Taoyuan County commissioner. The incident led to Hsu Hsin-liang's (許信良) victory. The late DPP chairman Huang Hsin-chieh (黃信介) also lost the 1992 legislative election in Hualien by a mere 62 votes. Huang was finally declared the winner after election administrators in Hualien were found to have rigged the vote count.

Such bias in the election process has led to a vicious culture whereby the losers invariably launch street protests whenever the election results become too close to call. In 1989, the DPP candidate for Tainan mayor, Li Tsung-fan (李宗藩), demanded a recount after he lost the election. His supporters set things on fire and threw stones during protests. The results of a recount showed no error in the initial count.

In the US, elections serve as a natural mechanism for political change. Society places trust in the electoral system and participates in a carnivalesque mood. In Taiwan, the election culture is more of an arena of political warfare and society participates with a live-or-die attitude. Losers invariably try to find fault with the results or try to find someone else to blame.