The Taiwan Citizens’ Union (TCU) and several university student associations have leased 47 buses to assist about 2,400 young people to return home and vote, Hsu Wei-ting (許韋婷), a youth organizer with the union, said yesterday.
The union, along with student groups from National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University and National Taiwan Normal University, launched the initiative to encourage young people to participate in today’s nine-in-one local elections.
The first six buses left Taipei yesterday, transporting about 238 people to their registered places of residence, Hsu said. More buses were scheduled to follow, with the last one leaving at 11am today.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“Since the Sunflower movement, Taiwan has seen an increase in youth participation in social movements, as they realize there is a political impasse hindering the nation’s democratic system,” TCU president Fan Yun (范雲) said, referring to the student protesters who occupied the Legislative Yuan from March 18 to April 10 in protest against the government’s opaque handling of the controversial cross-strait service trade agreement.
The votes of young people can push society to make changes, Fan said.
The groups estimated that the number of students heading south to vote is about the same as the number of students heading north, adding that most of these students are first-time voters who have only recently reached legal voting age.
Most of the buses transporting students back to their hometowns to vote have been hired through cooperation with travel agencies and bus companies, Liao said.
The groups have strictly prohibited the presence of any election campaign materials on the buses and asked that no election-related activity be conducted, to respect the choices of young people.
One student, surnamed Wang (王), from Tamkang University in New Taipei City, said that the groups’ efforts have made it more convenient for him to travel home.
Not only has the initiative encouraged more people to return home to vote, it has also helped those who needed financial aid to participate in the elections, he said.
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