A draft bill from the Central Election Commission (CEC) would allow absentee voting on referendums across municipal and county lines, but would not allow for voting abroad or online, a source said yesterday.
Opposition party members have been calling for the implementation of absentee voting, but the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has opposed it, citing concerns over information security and fraud.
Due to such concerns, the commission’s bill — which has been submitted to the Executive Yuan for review — would not contain provisions for voting online or from abroad, the source said, adding that people would have to apply to be eligible for absentee voting.
Article 25 of the Referendum Act (公民投票法) allows for absentee voting, but says that its implementation “shall be prescribed in a separate law.”
Despite numerous calls for such a law over the past several years, it has remained a controversial topic, the source said.
The Executive Yuan said it would review the bill before passing it on to the Legislative Yuan, but said it also plans to meet with the DPP caucus to discuss how different proposals could be integrated.
“The current bill would only allow voting outside of a voter’s registered city or county if they are unable to return home, and if they are voting in the city or county where they work or study,” the source said.
Voter information would also have to be verified with the Department of Household Registration, the source said.
Attitudes in the DPP toward absentee voting remain conservative, the source said, adding that some DPP members have pointed to issues with mailed-in ballots in the most recent US presidential election. There were also information security concerns that would make online voting questionable, the source said.
“People move around a lot for school and work, and there is this idea that absentee voting is the current trend. However, the DPP is remaining prudent in the face of so many concerns,” the source said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has called for an extraordinary legislative session to discuss the bill, but the Executive Yuan said that the level 3 COVID-19 alert would make that impossible.
The Executive Yuan said the scope of the bill should be discussed at the legislature’s next regular session.
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