A proposed constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to 18 from 20 did not pass yesterday after it failed to garner the minimum number of votes required.
The referendum, which asked voters if they agree to amend the Additional Articles of the Constitution to grant Taiwanese aged 18 years or older the right to vote and the right to run for public office, was held concurrently with local government elections.
The referendum needed 9,619,697 “yes” votes, or half the number of eligible voters, to pass.
Photo: CNA
The Central Election Commission data showed that 5,647,102 voted “yes,” while 5,016,427voted against the proposal.
To amend the Constitution, a draft amendment must first pass the legislature with three-quarters of legislators present and three-quarters of those present voting for it. The amendment must then be endorsed in a national referendum.
The 113-seat legislature on March 25 voted 109-0 in favor of lowering the voting age, sending a message of cross-party support for the measure and sending it to a national referendum.
A plebiscite on a proposed constitutional amendment is different from referendums seeking to change a government policy or law.
The election commission has said that referendums on constitutional amendments are not subject to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), which allows citizens aged 18 or older to vote and prohibits holding referendums on the same day as national elections.
The commission also cited the Constitution as saying that only citizens aged 20 or older are eligible to vote in referendums on constitutional amendments.
In addition, referendums on constitutional amendments requires twice the number of “yes” votes to pass, while other referendums only require 25 percent of eligible votes to cast a ballot and a majority to support the proposed policy or law.
This story has been updated since it was first published.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
RSS