The Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee yesterday passed an initial review of draft amendments that would lower the voting age from 20 to 18.
The revisions to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) would also allow citizens aged 18 or older to sign petitions endorsing presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Article 130 of the Constitution states that citizens must be at least 20 years of age to vote, meaning that the amendments might require a constitutional interpretation.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The committee therefore adopted a supplementary resolution urging the legislature’s Constitutional Amendment Committee to simultaneously review the constitutional amendment.
The high threshold for passing constitutional amendments has hindered efforts to lower the voting age in the past.
Lowering the voting age to 18 is a global trend with cross-partisan support in the legislature, the resolution said.
Since the drafting of the Constitution, the Civil Code has been amended to lower the age of adulthood from 20 to 18, although voting rights have yet to follow suit.
The move follows a failed 2022 constitutional referendum on the same issue, when despite support from major political parties, the proposal fell short of the threshold needed to pass.
The Constitution also sets 23 as the minimum age to be elected to public office.
Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday addressed the Internal Administration Committee on the matter.
As of the end of February, Taiwan had 411,731 citizens aged 18 or 19, she said.
If the voting age were lowered, 70 percent of new voters would be registered in the six special municipalities, Liu said.
The changes could raise concerns over the next election cycle, she said, adding that the issue could not be resolved by an administrative interpretation alone, but might ultimately require judicial clarification.
The Executive Yuan is not the authoritative body on constitutional interpretations, she added.
The amendments would increase the voting population by an estimated 410,000 people, Central Election Commission Department of Electoral Affairs Director Wang Hsiao-lin (王曉麟) said.
It would involve considerable extra work to prepare polling stations and voter rolls before the local elections on Nov. 28, he said.
If the amendments are not passed before the election notice on Aug. 20, the old system would remain in place, Wang said.
The draft amendments must first undergo party caucus negotiations before being submitted to the plenary session for discussion.
The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday said it has deployed its largest vessel and an aircraft to challenge a Chinese research ship operating off northern Batanes near Taiwan, adding that a Chinese coast guard vessel had also moved in. The Philippine operation “disrupted the vessel’s unauthorized marine scientific research and compelled it to leave its loitering position,” said Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson on South China Sea issues. The Philippine Coast Guard said the BRP Teresa Magbanua and an aircraft were deployed to counter the Chinese vessel, which it said had remained about 37 nautical miles northwest of Itbayat Island since Monday. The
RUNWAY: Analysts said the first aircraft landing is expected by the middle of next year, while Chinese state media said it would serve civilian needs Chinese construction of a runway on Antelope Reef (Lingyang Reef, 羚羊礁) in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), is well under way with analysts estimating it could be completed by the middle of next year, strengthening Beijing’s military control over the disputed South China Sea. Satellite images reviewed by Reuters show grading work, piles of gravel and concrete, and compaction cranes in operation to build a full-scale runway that military attaches and security analysts say could be one of China’s most important offshore bases in the region. The images, taken on Friday last week by commercial satellite imagery provider Vantor, also show
SHIFTING COOPERATION: With the new arrangement, US representatives would be able to participate directly in defense discussions, including weapons procurement Taiwan-US military cooperation is deepening, with the Pentagon expected to station personnel at the Ministry of National Defense (MND), sources said. The NT$470 million (US$14.77 million) joint program is scheduled to run from this year through 2028, under which the Pentagon would dispatch representatives from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Institute for Defense Analyses, a senior military official said on condition of anonymity, adding that one representative from each organization would be stationed at the ministry’s headquarters. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is one of the US’ bodies responsible for
DEFENSE: The US House speaker dismissed speculation that Trump is using arms sales as a negotiating tactic with Beijing amid concern over delayed deliveries Taiwan is a partner whose “stability and independence” are important to US national security and the economy, US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said on Monday when asked about arms sales to Taipei in an interview with Fox Business. Asked whether US President Donald Trump was using a long-delayed US$14 billion arms deal as a negotiating tactic for trade with Beijing, Johnson said that he “wouldn’t read too much into that.” The delayed arms package is “related to the Iran conflict” and the need for missile stocks in the Middle East, he said. “If you look over [Trump’s] two terms, he will
RSS