A ‘yes’ to absentee voting
The Taipei Times has reported that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has proposed a bill to introduce absentee voting in Taiwan, and the Taiwan People’s Party has also endorsed this move (“KMT legislators eye absentee voting proposals,” Jan. 25, page 1). This deserves a fair hearing.
The allowance for mail-in voting (or simply voting by way of drop boxes, as well as electronic voting) allows for voting outside of any sort of “household registration” requirement in alignment with the place one lives or was born.
To be sure this idea “would help deepen the nation’s democracy” as KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said, with such a move improving voter turnout, not only those who live in remote areas or have other difficulty accessing polls, but also those who are unable to vote because they cannot return to their home districts (often simply due to employment requirements). Most important would be the ability of Taiwanese living abroad to vote. These people are, after all, citizens of this nation and they should have the right to participate in elections, wherever they live. Such a policy is seen as a norm in many nations.
The US has had absentee voting since as far back as the US Civil War and it is seen as the model nowadays. I myself have voted as an absentee in Taiwan in every US federal election since 2000, and it has been a great honor to be able to do this.
Not every nation allows for absentee voting, but it can be seen as a “trending issue among democratic countries worldwide,” as KMT legislator-elect Sean Liao (廖偉翔) said.
It is a thoroughly modern, and entirely inclusive methodology, and should be adopted by Taiwan as soon as possible. The nation should not lag behind on this issue.
In the article, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) seems hesitant about this development, and to say that simply “believing” in election results is enough would not do. Taiwanese should introduce “new mechanisms to increase the number of voters.” As noted it is a global democratic inclination.
Drawing in the bulk of all eligible Taiwanese voters to elections should be seen as the new normal.
Needless to say, Taiwanese who live in free, democratic nations should be allowed to vote, while the DPP claims that Taiwanese living in China would be unduly and negatively influenced by Chinese intervention seems at best a long shot. There is no reason that all of these votes from citizens of Taiwan, wherever they live, would not be “certifiable and trustworthy.”
If 2 million more Taiwanese could be given the right to vote with this policy, as the article states, that could only be a positive development for democracy in Taiwan, and let us hope we can see this soon.
David Pendery
Taipei
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS