A motion to recall Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) has met the legal threshold of 2,912 signatures to proceed to the second stage, the Central Election Commission said yesterday.
A total of 3,744 valid signatures were received, the commission said, adding that the petitioners need to collect at least 29,113 within the next 60 days for a recall vote to be held.
According to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), the first stage to recall a legislator requires the signatures of 1 percent of the eligible voters in the lawmaker’s constituency, and 10 percent in the second stage.
There are 291,122 eligible voters in Chen’s constituency, Taichung’s 2nd District.
Petitioners led by Yang Wen-yuan (楊文元) — who voted for Chen in January last year, but has since regretted it — said that meeting the first threshold was a big step for the group, but added that the real challenge lay in the second stage.
The group said that it expects to collect as many as 40,000 signatures.
The 35-year-old legislator, known for his outspokenness, said that he would do his best to meet people’s expectations, but added that he “could not meet the expectations of those who have no faith in me.”
For a recall vote to pass, at least 25 percent of eligible voters — or 72,781 in Chen’s case — must vote in favor of it, and they must outnumber those who vote against it.
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