Lawmakers across party lines yesterday voted to approve a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age from 20 to 18, clearing the amendment’s path to a referendum later this year.
The proposed bill was put to a vote on the legislative floor yesterday afternoon as dozens of high-school students and representatives of non-governmental organizations mobilized outside the Legislative Yuan building in Taipei to express their support for the amendment.
The final vote was 109-0, surpassing the minimum 82 “yes” votes required for the bill to clear the legislature.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The result was a victory for student and civic groups, many of which have spent years trying to bring Taiwan’s voting age in line with most other democratic countries.
Constitutional amendments must first clear the legislature with the approval of at least three-quarters of lawmakers present at a meeting attended by a minimum of three-quarters of all lawmakers, according to the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文).
Once an amendment is approved by the Legislative Yuan, it must be voted on in a national referendum. It passes if half of all eligible voters cast ballots in its favor.
Photo: CNA
Civil society groups had expressed hope that the bill would clear the legislature yesterday so it could be voted on in a referendum on the same day as local elections in November, as nationwide elections are more likely to attract a higher voter turnout.
The bill to grant Taiwanese aged 18 or older the right to vote was cosponsored by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Taiwan People’s Party and the New Power Party.
Previously, supporters of the amendment expressed concern that the bill might not pass the legislature because the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had not committed itself to voting in favor of the amendment, although it had expressed support for lowering the voting age.
Based on the distribution of seats in the 113-seat legislature, where the DPP has 61 seats and the KMT has 39 seats, the bill could only clear the body with the support of both parties.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) met in Beijing yesterday, where they vowed to bring people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait closer to facilitate the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” The meeting was held in the East Hall of the Great Hall of the People, a venue typically reserved for meetings between Xi and foreign heads of state. In public remarks prior to a closed-door meeting, Xi, in his role as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said that Taiwan is historically part of China, and remains an “inalienable” and
RSS