Tue, Feb 24, 2004 page2

• CEC chief proposes new step to speed up vote tally

  ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUE Huang Shih-cheng wants to open the referendum boxes first to retrieve misplaced presidential ballots before starting the counting process

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  In a policy U-turn, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Huang Shih-cheng (黃石城) said yesterday that the technique for tallying the ballots in the presidential election and referendum would be changed in an effort to speed up the process.

  Huang said the referendum-ballot boxes would be checked for any presidential ballots that might have been put in the wrong box before the ballots in the presidential ballot-boxes are counted.

  The commission originally planned to count the presidential ballots first and then wait until the returns of the referendum were tallied to make public the election results, taking into account that voters might put their ballots in the wrong box.

  Huang stressed that the change needs to be approved by a CEC resolution. The commission is scheduled to meeting tomorrow.

  Fielding questions filed by lawmakers at a legislative committee meeting yesterday morning, Huang said that returns of the presidential poll are estimated to be complete by 8pm if the new measure is adopted.

  "We're thinking of opening the referendum ballot boxes together, taking out any presidential ballots that had been cast into them and then starting the tally of the presidential ballots," Huang said. "We wouldn't start counting referendum ballots until the presidential returns are complete."

  Amid calls by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) and People First Party (PFP) Legislator Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) for Huang to step down if he cannot take the mounting pressure, the CEC chief said that he would assume responsibility if he was held accountable for any mishaps on March 20.

  "I will not dodge any responsibility bestowed upon me," he said.

  Chen urged Huang to remain politically neutral even though he owed his current job to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who had persuaded then-premier Lien Chan (連戰) to let him take the helm of the commission a decade ago.

  "Don't lose your integrity in the face of political pressure," Apollo Chen said.

  When the KMT lawmaker asked Huang about his recent comment that he was in an "increasingly difficult situation," Huang said he was under pressure because some local election commissions are at odds with the CEC and some central and local commission members have threatened to quit.

  CEC member Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) tendered her resignation two weeks ago and said that Huang had told her that he felt "under a lot pressure" and that he was in an "increasingly difficult situation."

  Feng urged Huang to fight to the last minute to prove his integrity and impartiality.

  "But you should quit if you cannot handle it," he said.

  In related news, an auditor at the Taipei Election Commission (TEC) Shen Chih-min (沈濟民) filed a lawsuit at the Taipei Prosecutor's Office yesterday morning against Huang and Premier Yu Shyi-kun for tampering with the election process.

  Shen said that Yu and Huang owed the public an apology because they had broken the law by holding an illegitimate referendum.

  Shen claimed that the referendum was illegal and that it could not be held in conjunction with the presidential poll.

  Taipei City Bureau of Civil Affairs Director Samuel Wu (吳秀光), who is also a member of the city's election commission, said that Shen's move was a personal one and the lawsuit had not been approved by a resolution of that committee.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Bologna advance to face AC Milan in Coppa final

  • 2

    Taiwan ranked as the cheapest travel destination

  • 3

    Wolves hold off Lakers 116-104 to take series lead

  • 4

    Taiwan in Time: Taiwan’s first high school for Taiwanese students

  • 5

    Taiwan would benefit from integrated theater: expert