The adoption of an absentee-ballot system continued to be a bone of contention between the pan-green and pan-blue camps as pundits from both sides could not agree on the issue at a roundtable held at the Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday.
While the pan-blues argued that the implementation of an absentee-ballot system would ensure the right to vote for all Taiwanese nationals, including those living overseas, the pan-greens said the system must not be launched haphazardly, especially as Beijing could easily intercept correspondence between Taiwan and China.
“Taiwan must install an absentee ballot system to make sure all Taiwanese citizens can vote and we should adopt the method that is least controversial,” said Huang Chong-hsian (黃重憲), head of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Department of Organization and Management.
Pundits have suggested several methods, including mail-in ballot, setting up a special voting booth for those who cannot travel to their household-registered districts to vote, early voting and voting by proxy.
Democratic Progressive Party representative Liu Chien-hsin (劉建忻), however, said that given Taiwan’s unique status, not many countries would be able or willing to support its overseas absentee-voting system.
Given China’s hostility toward Taiwan, Beijing might try to sabotage the election by intercepting mail sent by China-based Taiwanese, thus comprising the integrity of the election, he said.
Hsieh Hsiang-ching (謝相慶), a Shih Hsin University who specializes on the electoral system, supported an absentee-ballot system, but cautioned about possible sabotage from Beijing.
National Taiwan University professor Wang Yeh-li (王業立) said implementing an absentee-ballot would not be possible in the near term because the CEC lacked credibility in the public’s eye.
Both professors also advocated an overhaul of rules for campaign ads and media exposures.
“Too much air time was given to the elections in the past. Even regular news sometimes became a quasi-campaign aid when the station focused on a particular candidate,” Wang said, adding that minimizing the frequency of campaign ads could also lighten up candidates’ financial expenses.
CEC spokesman Teng Tien-you (鄧天祐) shot down the suggestion of using the county or municipal election next year as a “test” to assess the plausibility of an absentee-ballot system, saying any changes to the electoral system requires a constitutional amendment and there was no time to push the amendment through before next year’s race.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on