The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday attempted to end months of wrangling over the voting system to be used in the legislative elections by announcing it would allow voters to follow the two-step voting procedure as long as the tables and voting boxes in polling stations are placed in accordance with the one-step voting format.
CEC Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (
Chang made the remarks at a press conference held at the Executive Yuan in Taipei in response to a report in yesterday's Chinese-language United Daily News.
PHOTO: CNA
Earlier yesterday, Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said that "there are signs of reconciliation. We hope the controversy can stop here."
On election day, Jan. 12, voters are entitled to cast two ballots for the next legislature -- one for their district candidate and one for their preferred party, along with two ballots for two referendums -- one on retrieving the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) stolen assets and one on demanding that high-level officials convicted of corruption return their ill-gotten gains.
The CEC decided on Nov. 16 to adopt the one-step voting procedure, in which election and referendum ballots are handed out to voters at the entrance to polling stations.
However, pan-blue camp politicians and the heads of 18 pan-blue-controlled cities and counties have insisted on adopting the two-step voting scheme, in which voters will have to cast their election ballot before proceeding to cast referendum ballots.
The United Daily News report said that the CEC was now "open to" the two-step voting procedure because voters will be allowed to cast election ballots in the first stage and referendum ballots in the second stage.
"We won't say that the CEC is `open to' the two-step voting procedure. That's the media's wording. But we will hand out referendum ballots to voters who have cast legislative ballots if they want to vote in the referendums and are still inside polling stations," Chang said.
Chang, however, insisted that electoral staff from the local election commissions would have to place desks for the distribution of ballots and voting boxes in line with the setup used in the one-step voting system.
"If voters prefer to cast their legislative ballots before casting their referendum ballots instead of casting the four ballots at the same time, we can't stop them. But I believe that only a small number of voters would do so if they wish to take part in the referendums," Shieh said.
Despite the CEC's concession, the KMT caucus yesterday continued to voice its dissatisfaction with the voting procedure.
KMT caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) told a press conference that the proposal was no more than "superficial goodwill," as the procedure remained the same as the "one-step" system favored by the CEC.
"The CEC's so-called `flexible two-step procedure' actually follows the one-step framework ... because the four ballot boxes will still be put next to each other," he said.
"Whether this procedure will help the polls proceed smoothly should be put to further public deliberation," he said.
Tseng also criticized the CEC's amendment to the organic statute of local election commissions on Wednesday that empowers the premier to replace local commission heads on the recommendation of the CEC, saying that the Cabinet had taken over the CEC and local election commissions.
"It's as if martial law had been imposed in Taiwan again ... are we a democracy? What law authorizes the premier to fire local election commissioners? If the Cabinet dares to fire any one of them, the caucus will definitely take the matter to court," Tseng said.
Meanwhile, KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday questioned the CEC's latest decision, adding that the party would respect local government heads' handling of election affairs.
"I don't know if it's the CEC's final decision. We need to wait and see what happens next," Ma said in Banciao, Taipei County.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said only that the city government would follow the decision of Taipei City's Election Commission.
Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (
In related news, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
The city election commission received an electronic version of the official notice from the premier in the late afternoon, which appointed commission member Tsai Tien-chi (蔡天啟) to take Wu's seat.
The premier also appointed Wu Chiu-ku (
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH,
CHEN CHING-MIN AND SU YUNG-YAO
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS