Investigations into vote-buying activities are already under way in the run-up to elections at the farmers' and fishermen's associations nationwide later this month. The thick accumulation of "black gold" (黑金) elements cannot possibly be cleaned up overnight after the transition of political power. However, elections at the farmers' associations are seen as an important battle in which to install "vote captains" in preparation for the legislative and county/city elections at the end of this year.
The results of a crackdown against vote-buying in the farmers' associations election is therefore seen as a barometer of the government's determination to eliminate black gold -- and an indicator of how clean the elections will be at the end of the year. For these reasons, the ongoing investigations have attracted considerable public attention.
What has been overlooked in this wave of investigations is that the Executive Yuan has recently approved amendments proposed by the Council of Agriculture to Article 18 of the Farmers' Association Election and Recall Law.
Under the current regulations, private organizations can adopt a "block vote" method, which allows each representative to vote for all seats on the organization's board. In comparison, the new amendments require a "limited vote," under which each representative can only vote for half the number of board seats up for grabs. For example, if a farmers' association is to elect a seven-member board, each representative can only vote for three members under the new regulations.
The new rules take effect with the upcoming elections. Such a small change in the election methods may have a major impact on the influence of local factions.
In terms of voting theory, the biggest problem with the block vote method is that it allows any group which can control more than half of the voters to win all the seats for which it is running. Therefore, it is extremely easy for any party which has a slight advantage to dominate the election, allowing no survival space for smaller parties.
Compared to elections for public representatives, it is generally easier to control voters in elections at Taiwan's private organizations and political parties -- which generally have smaller electorates. Any group which controls more than half of the votes -- either by itself or through a "vote exchange alliance" -- can easily win all the directors' and supervisors' seats because it can get voters to vote for a full board according to a "suggested name list." All the other parties, meanwhile, will get nothing.
This method, which was used in most past elections at farmers' associations, often resulted in two mutually hostile factions engaging in a battle of vote-buying. All kinds of extreme methods have been used, including bribery, intimidation and the so-called "collective pleasure trips" (
Any group which can control more than half of the membership representatives can win all the directors' seats -- and consequently the treasured chair-person's seat. The block vote method turns the elections into a zero-sum game and allows one faction to totally control the organizations. This in turn gives rise to all kinds of corruption and irregularities. If a "rotation of factions" takes place in the next election, it is an entire rival faction taking over and monopolizing the association's resources.
Under the new voting method, a faction will need to control more than two thirds of the membership representatives and also evenly allocate its votes in order to totally dominate the election. A smaller number of votes allowed for each voter makes it harder for any local faction to win all the seats. Therefore, the possibility of any one faction controlling the entire association will be lower as other factions will also be able to win some seats.
Problems in the grassroots farmers' associations are linked to the political and economic interests of political parties and local factions. Coupled with black gold elements, they are one of the most difficult issues in Taiwan's political and financial reforms. This small change made to the election regulations may be just a small step toward reforms, but it can have a far-reaching impact.
Wang Yeh-lih is chairman of the department of political science of Tunghai University.
Translated by Francis Huang
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