The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday reached an agreement with the Kaohsiung City Election Commission to set up the same 1,823 polling stations used in 2018’s Kaohsiung mayoral election for the June 6 vote to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
The arrangement was reached as some venue hosts retracted their agreements to provide space for polling stations.
As of Thursday, the Kaohsiung commission had only obtained permission to use 64.8 percent of the venues that it expects would be needed for the recall vote.
Photo: CNA
It has also drawn criticism for announcing that elementary and junior-high schools would only be allowed to provide two classrooms as polling stations, saying that it would help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文), the Kaohsiung commission’s head, yesterday said that it had encountered “considerable difficulty” in trying to secure space for polling stations, as only about half of the 900 schools have agreed to provide classrooms.
CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) yesterday visited Kaohsiung to help resolve the issue.
“Wherever people voted in the 2018 [Kaohsiung] mayoral election is where they will vote in the recall vote,” Lee said. “That is treating voters with respect.”
Chen said that the CEC could help the Kaohsiung commission solicit space from national universities or government agencies to be used as polling stations.
He also asked the central government to assist the Kaohsiung commission with disinfecting polling stations after the vote.
Lee asked Chen to tally universities and government agencies that are willing to provide space for the vote, adding that “if they turn down the requests, I will chop my head off.”
After a discussion lasting two-and-a-half hours, the agencies reached four agreements, CEC Vice Chairman Chen Chao-chien (陳朝建) said.
First, 1,823 polling stations are to be set up, and Kaohsiung district officers are to report the venues they have secured to the Kaohsiung commission by Tuesday next week, he said.
Second, for the sake of voters’ convenience, the polling stations should, in principle, be set up at the same locations as in the 2018 election, he said.
Third, as the Civil Servant Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) says that government agencies, schools and civil servants are crucial to ensuring that people can exercise their right to political participation, the Kaohsiung Education Bureau should send a letter to schools at all levels asking them to provide classrooms to be used as polling stations, he said.
Fourth, all Kaohsiung district offices must abide by the COVID-19 prevention plan established by the Kaohsiung commission and introduced at public hearings to ensure that proper disease prevention work is carried out during the vote.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
RSS