The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday said that it would appeal a court decision to allow inmates to vote, citing security concerns and a lack of legal precedent.
The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled that a voting station should be set up inside Taipei Prison in Taoyuan’s Gueishan District (龜山) so inmates could vote in January’s presidential and legislative elections.
An inmate surnamed Lin (林) had filed the lawsuit, with guidance from inmate rights group Prison Watch, arguing that he has a right to vote that cannot be revoked, despite being incarcerated.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
Lin had asked that a voting booth be set up at the prison, as he was unable to leave.
The court said that special voting booths are not a subject with legal standing, overriding the CEC’s argument that there were no regulations or precedent to set up a polling booth in a prison.
The lack of precedent was an insufficient reason to deny voting rights, it said.
CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) and Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) yesterday presented separate reports at the legislature in Taipei.
The CEC would file an appeal over security concerns, Lee told reporters, adding that an inmate must be alone when marking a ballot inside a curtained booth that guards cannot enter.
In principle, an inmate would have their restraints removed, as people are not permitted to take devices, weapons or other dangerous items into voting booths, he said.
The other main issue is that Taiwan has no process for absentee voting, so there is no precedent to set up a voting station inside a prison, he said.
“Taiwan does not have absentee voting, mail-in ballots, voting via proxy or electronic voting as other countries do,” Lee said.
People must vote at stations according to their household registration, he said.
“To protect inmates’ voting rights, changes must be made to the legal framework to establish absentee voting or other means of casting ballots outside residency,” Lee said. “That would be the right way to do it.”
Tsai said the case is still pending, as the CEC would file an appeal.
A new ruling would have to be made before any action by the Agency of Corrections, which administers the nation’s incarceration facilities, Tsai added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) asked the CEC and the ministry not to appeal the ruling.
The law should be amended to specify “absentee voting for inmates” to guarantee their right to vote, Lin said.
Additional reporting by CNA
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
Taiwan’s first African swine fever (ASF) case has been confirmed and would soon be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Research Institute yesterday completed the analysis of samples collected on Tuesday from dead pigs at a hog farm in Taichung and found they were ASF-positive. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency Animal Quarantine Division chief Lin Nien-nung (林念農) said the result would be reported to the WOAH and Taiwan’s major trade partners would also be notified, adding that pork exports would be suspended. As of Friday, all samples
RSS