The Central Election Commission on Thursday last week unveiled posters with information on the Nov. 26 local elections and a referendum on a constitutional amendment in the native languages of 16 officially recognized indigenous communities.
The posters are aimed at helping indigenous people quickly obtain information on the elections and the referendum on lowering the legal voting age from 20 to 18, the commission said, adding that it seeks to encourage civil participation among indigenous people.
The posters remind voters to bring their national ID cards, personal seals and voting notifications to polling stations, the commission said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Election Commission
The Council of Indigenous Peoples seeks to promote indigenous languages and cultivate indigenous language teachers, and the commission hopes to show support for the council’s policy with the posters, it said.
The commission hopes that the posters would help boost voter turnout among indigenous people, it added.
The writing systems for indigenous languages in Taiwan are based on Bible translations used by foreign missionaries and rent deeds between indigenous groups and Dutch colonial authorities in the 17th century.
The systems were established in November 2005, after the council and the Ministry of Education from 2003 to 2005 held discussions and public hearings on the issue.
The unveiling of the posters came after the commission published videos about the elections in English, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Cambodian and Filipino, it said, adding that it seeks to inform Taiwan’s six major groups of new immigrants of the process.
Council data showed that Taiwan’s indigenous population as of September totaled about 580,000, with the country’s 17 recognized indigenous groups being the Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Hla’alua, Kavalan, Kanakanavu, Paiwan, Pingpu, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Sediq, Tao, Thao, Truku and Tsou.
The Pingpu, who speak several native languages, were not included in the poster.
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