Thanks to voters’ enthusiasm and a nice weather across the nation, there was a high turnout rate for the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections. However, as 10 national referendums were held together with the elections, the voting process was much larger in scale and more complex.
The lowering of the age threshold for referendum voters to 18 also led to an increase in the number of voters. Not only did this make voting time-consuming, it delayed the vote-counting process and the announcement of the results.
Due to the lack of preparation by election authorities and slow response at polling stations, long lines formed at stations across the nation, with many people still waiting to cast their ballots when the vote count started at 4pm.
Many people gave up after having waited for too long, while others intentionally cast invalid votes to vent their anger. Although it has yet to be determined if this affected the results, it did undermine the public’s right to exercise their civic rights.
As poorly organized elections could be a variable in the election outcome, Taiwan must avoid a recurrence of the problem by considering electronic voting, allowing people to exercise their civic rights by voting via the Internet using their citizen digital certificates (CDC) or electronic IDs.
Taiwanese are already used to dealing with financial institutions using various kinds of verification tools, and the Ministry of the Interior’s promotion of the CDC has been effective.
As long as the voting details are thoroughly planned, implementing electronic voting would not only be feasible, but also in line with Taiwan’s image as a leading democratic and technologically advanced nation.
Estonia was the first nation in the world to implement electronic voting during its parliamentary elections in 2007. The US, the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and other nations have also gradually pushed electronic voting.
In Switzerland, people using the electronic system have to wait for a password sent by the authorities by mail before election day to be able to vote. However, in Estonia, voters use their Estonian ID cards, which are similar to Taiwan’s CDCs, and do not have to wait for a special password sent by mail.
Moreover, nations that offer electronic voting do not require voters residing abroad to return to their home country to be able to vote, and early voting prior to election day is available. Estonia even allows people to change their electronic vote by going to the polling station on election day and vote using a paper ballot.
The greatest advantages of electronic voting is convenience and efficiency, making it easy for people to vote, while reducing the workload of polling station staff.
However, its biggest problem is security. If the system is hacked, questions of vote-rigging or voter fraud would give rise to political disputes and election-related lawsuits.
Moreover, electronic voting is no guarantee of voting confidentiality, and this might encourage vote-buying practices and lead to unfair elections. In light of these problems, the government should push for electronic voting with caution.
Allowing absentee voting has been discussed for years, but it will take a long time to build public trust in a new voting system. Once there is voter trust, the nation can skip constituency voting and implement an electronic voting system, thus resolving the absentee voting issue.
From a legal perspective, the Additional Articles of the Constitution state that Taiwanese residing abroad may return home to exercise their electoral rights in a presidential election. Unless the government amends the Constitution or excludes presidential elections from the application, the implementation of electronic voting in a presidential election could contravene the Constitution.
Furthermore, the implementation of electronic voting would also require an amendment to Article 17 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), which states that “the staff of polling stations may vote at the polling stations at the place of domicile or place of work.”
By further expanding the scope of constituency voting from polling station staff to all eligible voters, voters would no longer be restricted to polling stations based on their household registration. It might be easier to build a consensus behind an amendment to the act than a constitutional amendment.
The biggest concern regarding the implementation of electronic voting is not technology or system design, but political trust. The long-term confrontation between the government and opposition parties implies that it would be difficult for electronic voting to win acceptance unless all parties and voters are convinced that confidentiality can be ensured.
Protecting voting confidentiality to ensure fair elections is essential when pushing for electronic voting, because it involves political trust and is key to whether the system will be adopted.
The government should hold a trial run on a referendum, and then make adjustments based on public feedback. Only after that should the system be gradually expanded to cover elections.
William Yang is a professor at Shih Hsin University’s public policy management department.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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