Jan. 12 polls will use one-step voting: CEC

"This will lead to a revolution!" another commission member was heard to shout.

The motion was voted down by a margin of six to three.

The KMT legislative caucus condemned the CEC decision.

Caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said the caucus would sue CEC members who voted for the one-step voting process, charging them with malfeasance.

The one-step process would force voters to reveal their political stance by declaring whether they would accept a referendum ballot, Tseng said yesterday.

The 18 pan-blue local governments will exercise their authority according to the Local Government Act (地方自治法) and handle the Jan. 12 elections their own way, Tseng said.

Meanwhile, the DPP said that the commission's decision was long overdue.

"We hoped to do this back in 2004 but the KMT was against it," said Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓), who is also director of the party's Culture and Information Department.

A voter has the constitutional right to choose whether to participate in an election or referendum, Hsieh said.

"It is definitely not appropriate to try to interrupt things by making the voting process more complicated," she said.

Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih and Jimmy Chuang