The Executive Yuan yesterday told lawmakers that it supports the implementation of transfer voting for domestic voters in national referendums or presidential elections to increase democratic participation and guarantee civil rights, but added that the matter would be decided by the legislature.
“The Executive Yuan recommends the adoption of transfer voting in Taiwan. For example, people who live in Pingtung County could vote in Taipei by-elections,” Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) told the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee.
Lawmakers had requested that Chen and Central Election Commission Chairwoman Chang Po-ya (張博雅) deliver a report on the implementation of absentee voting in national referendums and elections, an issue that has been a topic of heated discussion after the Cabinet proposed holding a referendum to decide if the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be completed or suspended.
Establishing absentee voting for overseas citizens, in particular Taiwanese businesspeople in China, would be “complex,” which was why the Cabinet favored implementing a domestic resident only voting mechanism for now, Chen said.
The Cabinet will respect whatever decision lawmakers make on when and how absentee voting should be implemented, Chen said.
Preparatory work for the implementation of transfer voting in the nuclear power plant referendum would take between one and three months, Chang told lawmakers.
Citizens who intend to vote in a different constituency would be required to register 30 days in advance, and it would take another 20 days to review the registration, Chang said.
The estimated cost of a national referendum is about NT$780 million (US$26.2 million) and the implementation of absentee voting would cost an additional NT$80 million, Chang said.
The commission is required by law to hold any referendum initiated by the Legislative Yuan within six months of receiving the proposal, Chang added.
Separately, Deputy Minister of the Interior Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家淇), who also attended the legislative session, released the results of a public opinion poll conducted between March 8 and March 11 on absentee voting, which showed that 76 percent of respondents were in favor of the mechanism.
However, if the system was implemented only on the nation’s outlying islands, then the support rate fell to just above 30 percent, Hsiao said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS