Minister of Justice Lo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) yesterday defended the Supreme Court’s decision to reject an appeal against a “not guilty” ruling in the case of those accused of “ballot flashing” — showing who they have voted for in a supposedly secret ballot — in the 2010 Kaohsiung council speaker and deputy speaker elections, and said that if the public is concerned that the outcome might lead to more incidents of vote buying then the matter should be resolved by amending election laws.
Lo was referring to the Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday to reject an extraordinary appeal filed by Prosecutor-General Yen Ta-ho (顏大和) that the case be reopened.
“There have been different interpretations in the past, but now this decision by the Supreme Court provides the basis to set a standard on this issue. Prosecutors will take the decision into account and abide by its adjudication,” Lo said during a handover ceremony between outgoing and incoming officials at various Ministry of Justice (MOJ) agencies.
Photo: CNA
“The concern has been raised that the acquittal over this case of ballot flashing will enable vote buying. This is a legal matter. If people see the outcome as inappropriate, then we may need to go through the law amendment process to deal with this issue,” she said.
She said the decision would not directly result in more cases of vote buying for speaker and deputy speaker posts at city and county-level councilors’ elections.
“It is uncertain if these cases will become more prevalent in the future. We will continue to monitor developments,” she said.
The outcome was based on the interpretation that ballot flashing at council election for speaker and deputy speaker does not constitute “divulging secrets” since a councilor’s vote is an individual matter and it does not concern “secrets of the government.”
Since judicial decisions by the Supreme Court are seen as establishing precedents for trial cases in lower courts, legal experts said it could mean acquittals for councilors charged in similar cases.
It means that the court’s decision might also mean charges are dropped against Kaohsiung City councilors Hsiao Jung-ta (蕭永達), Huang Shih-lung (黃石龍), and seven other Kaohsiung City councilors who are also accused of ballot flashing in 2010.
Although the practice of “ballot flashing” arose from the desire of party whips to enforce discipline in close elections for speaker and deputy speaker, in a number of cases the candidates are suspected of buying off councilors, allegedly offering millions of New Taiwan dollars in reward for favorable votes.
The decision was reached on Tuesday during a Criminal Divisions Conference at the Supreme Court, which was attended by 43 court judges — a high participation rate in recent years.
Analysts said that prosecutors are now expected to drop charges against councilors in the nine cases of ballot flashing at council speaker and deputy speaker elections, with cases pending in Taipei, New Taipei City, Kaohsiung and other cities and counties.
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