Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德) yesterday called for election laws to add “negative voting,” which he said would allow voters to express a wider range of opinion.
Shih told a news conference in Taipei that he and some colleagues believe that voters should have the option to express their views even when they do not want to vote for any of the candidates in an election.
Casting negative votes would help solve that problem, enabling citizens to not only express their support for a candidate, but also to express their dissatisfaction.
Under the proposal, the final ballot count would be the net result of votes for the candidate after subtracting the negative votes, Shih said.
The system would prove helpful in an election with three candidates who do not meet the needs of the job at hand, Shih said.
The system could also help boost voter turnout and cut pressure on the public budget, as candidates would receive decreased subsidies from the NT$30 per vote gained in the election, Shih said.
Shih’s comments refer to Article 43 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), which stipulates how winning candidates’ campaign expenses are subsidized.
For election winners who garner one-third of the votes in their constituency when there is only one elected candidate, or those who earn half of the votes in their constituency if there are two elected candidates, campaign expenses are to be subsidized by NT$30 per vote, the article stipulates.
The system would also negate the efforts of candidates who seek to court specific social groups, Shih said.
It would go a long way toward bolstering fairness and social equality, he said.
Many things that are right are doubted and questioned at first, and while it poses some risk to those who benefit under the current system, the younger generation should support the reform, as it is creative and new, Shih said.
The Ministry of the Interior took a positive view of the concept, saying that it would offer more choices for voters to express their opinions, Deputy Minister of the Interior Jonathan Chen (陳純敬) said, adding however that potential implementation methods must be examined.
The implementation of such a proposal would likely raise several questions, including how ballots would be counted, or whether voters could stamp both choices simultaneously, Chen said.
“We must examine whether there would be loopholes or unfairness to other voters,” Chen said, while encouraging the advocates to provide the ministry with cases of implementation of the concept.
Chen declined to comment on whether the ministry would spearhead the proposed amendment of the voting system, saying that it was too early to tell and the ministry needed more data.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS