Former Central Election Commission Secretary-General Tsai Li-hsueh (
"Tsai did not do a good enough job explaining to the public how invalid ballots were to be determined, which resulted in the number of invalid ballots rising from 110,000 [in the 2000 election] to 340,000," Chang said during a committee hearing at the Legislative Yuan.
Last week, it was reported that Tsai had been reassigned to the Coordination Council for North American Affairs as a council member. The position is two ranks lower than Tsai's former position as commission secretary-general.
Chang said that a few days before the presidential election, the commission reduced the number of criteria by which a ballot would be considered invalid.
"Originally, there were 27 ways for a ballot to be considered invalid, but this was cut down to seven. However, Tsai failed to publicize this change before the election," Chang said.
Chang denied that he initiated Tsai's demotion.
"It's not within my authority to assign her to her new position," Chang said.
Tsai's reassignment took effect last Friday. She had worked at the commission for 12 years.
Last Friday, Chang reportedly said her demotion was brought about by a personal grudge.
In March, following a television debate between the presidential candidates on the referendum, Tsai said that Chang, who had been the debate's moderator, had failed to speak in a manner appropriate to the occasion.
It was widely speculated that Chang took offense at her statement.
Chang said the decision to reassign Tsai was made by the Executive Yuan and that he had not played any part in the process.
According to a Chinese-language report, demotions of high-ranking civil government officials like Tsai are rare, with the last case occurring 10 years ago.
At the time of the presidential election, the commission chairman was Huang Shih-cheng (
In June, Huang concluded his term and Chang assumed the chairmanship, a decision made by the Cabinet.
Huang's appointment was controversial. He has a long history of close ties with the Democratic Progressive Party, and in some circles the appointment was suspected of being a political maneuver.
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