A proposal by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to form an ad hoc constitutional amendment committee to lower the legal voting age to 18 yesterday advanced to a second reading and is to be discussed in cross-caucus talks.
Since the start of the current legislative session in February, several caucuses have tendered proposals to lower the legal voting age and the legal age of candidacy, but no action has been taken to form the committee, which is necessary for constitutional amendments to be reviewed, the TPP’s proposal says.
The committee should be established in the current legislative session to prevent delays to the review of relevant proposals, it says.
Photo: CNA
Some caucuses have proposed rewriting the portion of the Constitution that covers enfranchisement, while the TPP’s version suggests that wording on an age limit should be removed, TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Any rewording of language on the legal voting age can be done in the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Jang said, adding that this is the easiest way to amend the legal voting age.
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) said at the start of the legislative session that he is in favor of improving civil rights, and several caucuses have sponsored related motions, which shows that the issue has gained considerable nonpartisan support, Jang said.
The current legal voting age, 20, runs counter to the global trend, as few democratic nations have as high a threshold as Taiwan, he said.
He called on the other caucuses not to “put on a show” by introducing other issues that would involve amending the Constitution in discussions about the committee.
The TPP submitted a motion to advance the proposal to a second reading, which passed without objection.
You is to convene cross-caucus talks on the TPP’s proposal under a motion submitted by the Democratic Progressive Party caucus.
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