Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) yesterday said that absentee voting should first be allowed in referendums on key issues, but election reform should proceed cautiously to prevent foreign nations from interfering in elections.
“One of the major challenges that democratic nations face is severe election interventions from external forces,” Lee told reporters before a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee. “We should ensure that any change to the election system would be as perfect as possible and that it would continue upholding core democratic values.”
The Executive Yuan last month proposed permitting transfer voting, a type of absentee voting, in referendums, Lee said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
“We have had experience with transfer voting. By allowing transfer voting in referendums, we hope to collect feedback from all stakeholders before making the voting method available in elections,” he said.
Absentee voting should ensure that voters are able to exercise their right of free will, and the right to cast a secret ballot should be protected, he added.
“We have submitted our proposed amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to the legislature for review and hope it would be passed during this legislative session. This would be crucial in making a firm and steady step toward absentee voting,” Lee said.
Transfer voting allows voters to cast ballots in polling booths that are not ones assigned to them based on their registered address. Voters who request transfer voting must still personally cast their votes in polling booths.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus is pushing to have the government administer postal voting, which would allow voters at home and overseas to mail in their ballots.
Meanwhile, National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said on the sidelines of a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday that many nations take into account national security implications before allowing absentee voting.
“From the bureau’s perspective, we will remind lawmakers and government officials of the risks involved in postal voting. Voters who are in other nations, particularly those in China, might be directed to vote against their will,” Tsai said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) also questioned the feasibility of allowing Taiwanese working and studying in China to mail in ballots.
“Australians can safely cast their votes in China because they can vote in the Australian embassy there without worrying that somebody would force them to change their vote,” she said at a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee. “How can we make sure Taiwanese can vote of their own free will, given that we have no embassy, consulate or office there? It is a joke just thinking about that.”
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