The leader of efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) yesterday said they would stop collecting signatures for the second stage of the recall drive following allegation of forgeries.
A 65-year-old surnamed Cheng (鄭) and her lawyer yesterday alleged that the leader of the recall drive, surnamed Chen (陳), had falsified Cheng’s signature.
Cheng said she received a notice of confirmation from the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) Chiayi branch that she had signed the petition, alhough she had not.
Photo: CNA
She added that she suspected her personal information had been leaked.
In response, Chen yesterday said that he only received the returned petition forms collected by “eager members of the public” and could not verify them, adding that was why he submitted hundreds more petitions than required in the first stage of the recall process so that the CEC could verify the signatures.
Falsifying people’s signatures was never an idea that crossed his mind, and he is equally annoyed, he said.
“This [fake signature] has crossed my personal red line,” he said.
After the CEC announces the result of the current phase of the recall on Tuesday next week, Chen said he would hold a separate news conference to announce that he does not intend to continue collecting signatures for the second stage.
The Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) states that recalls have to undergo two stages, the first being the proposal, which requires 1 percent of voters in the electorate the official represents to sign the petition. In the second petition stage, signatures from 10 percent of voters in the electorate must be collected before a recall vote is held.
The act states that the recall vote must receive approval from one-quarter of the electorate.
Wang, who represents a constituency in Chiayi City, yesterday said that multiple incidents of forged signatures — including one reported last month of a signature belonging to a person who had passed away — showed that allegations of people copying names off existing lists, such as membership lists at party branches, held some truth, adding that she hoped all such illegal acts would be punished.
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