The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday finalized draft amendments to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) targeting vote-buying, gambling and foreign actors meddling with local elections.
The amendments would introduce a prison term of up to five years for bookmakers and a possible fine of up to NT$500,000 (US$16,757), while people who place bets on the outcome of an election or recall vote would face detention, a prison term of up to six months or a fine of up to NT$100,000.
To encourage political parties to nominate candidates responsibly, the amendments would introduce a fine of NT$500,000 to NT$50 million for parties whose candidates engage in vote-buying, regardless of whether they later withdraw from a race.
Photo: Huang Hsin-po, Taipei Times
To prevent disinformation from influencing voters, the proposed amendments borrow from US legislation a provision requiring advertisements for elections and recall votes to specify who paid for them.
The Central Election Commission would be authorized to formulate rules on the ads and would be required to keep records.
The draft amendments would ban ads paid for by foreign entities and afford stakeholders the right to file cease-and-desist letters to entities that run such ads against them.
Due to criticism of a requirement for people aiming to run for president or vice president to collect signatures on paper, the proposed amendments would allow people to provide their signatures electronically, while retaining the option for traditional signatures.
One amendment aims to close a loophole in Article 27 of the Political Parties Act (政黨法) that has allowed parties to jointly nominate a candidate, preventing their dissolution for not fielding a candidate for four consecutive years.
A candidate can only be nominated by one political party, the proposed amendment says.
The amendment would only apply to local and legislative elections, not presidential elections, the ministry said.
The Political Parties Act does not limit the number of parties that a person can join, which created the loophole, Civil Affairs Department Director Lin Ching-chi (林清淇) said.
The draft amendments would be forwarded to the Executive Yuan and, if approved, would then be delivered to the Legislative Yuan for review, the ministry said.
If passed into law, the amendments would apply to the 2022 local elections, it said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
RSS