Under the government’s COVID-19 quarantine policy, confirmed cases are not allowed to leave their residences, which would make voting impossible for people with COVID-19.
The average daily caseload last week was more than 39,000, down 25 percent from the same period the previous week. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has predicted that confirmed COVID-19 cases could drop to about 20,000 a day in a week or two. By the time of the local elections next month, there might be about 200,000 confirmed cases unable to cast their ballots due to a requirement to quarantine at home.
“Regardless of whether you test positive for COVID-19 or are obligated to isolate at home, you can vote in polling stations as long as you are legally allowed to go outside,” Central Election Commission Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said on Monday.
However, as the CECC is acting in accordance with the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法), the movement of confirmed cases is still restricted, meaning they are prohibited from leaving their homes to exercise their voting rights.
I was crestfallen to discover that the commission has not tried to fix the problem, while other countries have found ways to allow people with COVID-19 to vote in elections.
South Korea adopted mail-in voting and extended the voting hours, so confirmed cases could enter polling stations in the evening, separate from other voters.
In Japan, after confirmed cases apply to vote by mail at least four days before the election, they receive a return envelope and a ballot.
Many US states have a long history of allowing voters to cast their ballots by mail, helping confirmed cases to vote.
In Australia, anyone who tests positive is eligible to use a telephone service to vote, while in the UK, confirmed cases can apply for an emergency proxy vote.
The Singaporean government set up special polling stations for those in home isolation to use.
Democracies around the globe have strived to protect every eligible citizen’s fundamental right to vote.
During the Martial Law era from 1949 to 1987, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was notorious for rigging elections. Taiwanese back then regarded voting as something of an exercise in futility, which could explain why citizens and officials have long overlooked the importance of voter enfranchisement.
Now that there is bipartisan consensus on lowering the voting age to broaden civic participation, the government should take corresponding measures to set up channels for COVID-19 cases to exercise their voting rights.
As many countries have lifted COVID-19 restrictions and bans, perhaps the CECC could temporarily lift restrictions on election day, or the legislature could amend the Special Act for Prevention, Relief and Revitalization Measures for Severe Pneumonia with Novel Pathogens (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例) to exclude those that have been infected with certain variants of SARS-CoV-2.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unwise to “go the extra mile” with his “zero COVID-19” strategy to consolidate his political authority. In Taiwan, a country that celebrates democratic values, the government should consider and ensure the voting rights of 200,000 citizens. It is time for the CECC and the Central Election Commission to come together and fix voting problems before the local elections.
Lai Yu-che is a retired professor and a farmer in Hualien.
Translated by Rita Wang
Criticisms of corruption, a poorly managed bureaucracy and uninformed, unprincipled or unaccomplished policy in China are often met with harsh punishments. Many protesters in the “blank paper movement,” for example, have been disappeared by the authorities. Meanwhile, the WHO has asked China to provide data on its COVID-19 situation, with the Chinese government choosing to disseminate propaganda instead. The first amendment of the US Constitution, written in 1791, prohibits the US government from abridging the freedom of speech, press, assembly, petition, or religion. More than 200 years later, China, the world’s second-largest economy, still lacks the freedoms of speech and the press,
As the People’s Republic of China (PRC) constantly strives to rewrite the Taiwan narrative, it is important to regularly update and correct the stereotypes that the PRC tries to foist on Taiwan and the world. A primary stereotype is that Taiwan has always been a part of China and its corollary that Taiwan has been a part of China since time immemorial. Both are false. Taiwan has always been a part of the vast Austronesian empire, which stretched from Madagascar in the west to Easter Island in the east and from Taiwan in the north to New Zealand in the south. That
The latest Cabinet reshuffle retains top economic and finance officials in their posts. Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花), National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫), Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Thomas Huang (黃天牧) and Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) are all to remain. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), who is to be sworn in as the new premier tomorrow, reportedly wanted them to complete unfinished tasks and maintain coherent policymaking. This indicates that Tsai’s administration wants to formulate consistent and stable policies, reassure the business community and restore
To boost Taiwan’s international competitiveness, the government has launched a “bilingual nation” policy, pledging to achieve this goal by 2030. After the new Cabinet takes shape, it should promptly review the implementation of the policy, and then make adjustments if needed. How can Taiwanese’s English be improved? The answer is simple: Better English education would be a start. Oddly, many universities and even the College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC) are doing the opposite at the moment, taking Taiwan further away from becoming a “bilingual nation.” The CEEC, for example, which holds the General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT) in January as well
RSS