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TSU gives nod to pan-blue proposal on absentee vote

The TSU agreed in principle yesterday with a pan-blue proposal to allow Taiwanese voters to cast ballots in the upcoming presidential election even if they are not residing where they were registered to vote.

The solidarity ends there, however, as the two disagree about how to deal with Taiwanese residents living in China and dual passport holders living abroad.

The KMT and PFP want to include these two classes of potential voters in the absentee voter plan, but the TSU wants them excluded.

Cheng Jhen-long (程振隆), a TSU party whip at the Legislative Yuan, said all Taiwanese citizens have the right to vote and their rights should not be taken way because they are away from the places where they registered.

However, Cheng pointed out that those voters living in China and those who live elsewhere around the world and are dual passport holders should be excluded to protect the integrity of their votes.

Cheng said that the exclusion would prevent the absentee voters from being unduly influenced by outside forces.

Cheng said dual passport holders should be excluded because of the questions that could arise surrounding their loyalty to the country, while China-based Taiwanese business people should also be excluded based on the fact that Taiwan and China are technically in a hostile state and that Taiwan maintains no organizations in China that have public credibility.

Not everyone agreed with the proposal on absentee voting, however.

DPP legislative whip Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said he was against the idea, saying that the program would not be viable since there is no way to know whether the absentee voters were marking and mailing their own ballots.

The KMT and PFP will introduce the proposal in the new Legislative Yuan session next month.
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