The New Power Party (NPP) caucus yesterday threw its support behind a proposal by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to allow absentee voting.
The KMT caucus has proposed that the Legislative Yuan hold an extraordinary session from today to Monday to discuss a number of urgent issues, including allowing absentee voting in referendums, after the Central Election Commission (CEC) last week postponed four referendums that were scheduled to take place on Aug. 28 to Dec.18.
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) presided over a coordination meeting yesterday afternoon to decide whether an extraordinary session should be held to deliberate changes to the Referendum Act.
Photo copied by Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
NPP Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said before the meeting that she was glad that the CEC had responded to calls for the referendums to be postponed, but whether the COVID-19 outbreak would have eased by Dec. 18 remains an uncertainty.
“We will submit our version of the amendment to allow people to vote through absentee ballots in referendums,” Chen said.
However, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said his caucus opposed such an amendment, as there should be special regulations governing the enforcement of an absentee voting system.
The DPP caucus also opposes convening an extraordinary session to discuss the amendment, Ker said.
The KMT is using absentee voting as an excuse to promote mail-in ballots, which are against the Constitution, he said.
DPP caucus secretary general Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that the DPP’s position has always been to stipulate special regulations for absentee voting.
As lawmakers failed to come to an agreement on the issue at yesterday’s meeting, the issue is expected to be put to a vote at another meeting today.
On Monday, CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said that the commission’s draft bill on absentee voting is not expected to be enacted before the Dec. 18 referendum, which means it is unlikely to be an option for voters.
Furthermore, the commission will need at least six months to train poll workers on the mechanics of an absentee voting system, he added.
The CEC’s draft bill proposes allowing absentee voting in a referendum only if voters are unable to return to the city or county in which they are registered, Lee said.
No agreement has been reached on whether to allow voting online or from overseas, he said, citing fraud and security concerns.
Additional reporting by CNA
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit