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
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
RSS