The Constitutional Court declined to accept a petition filed by a man who requested a judgement on whether the Central Election Commission (CEC) breached the Constitution by preventing him from voting while he was in quarantine.
In November 2022, a man surnamed Lu (呂) was diagnosed with COVID-19 and quarantined, making him unable to vote in the nine-in-one local elections and voting age referendum that took place on Nov. 26.
He sued the CEC for failing to provide appropriate alternative voting methods that complied with pandemic prevention regulations, thereby violating his constitutional right to vote.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
After reviewing the case, the Taipei High Administrative Court found that under the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Referendum Act (公民投票法), election officials do not have the authority to divide voting across multiple days.
Current laws also do not allow for the CEC to bring voting day forward or postpone it, the court found, rejecting Lu’s case.
Lu then appealed to the Supreme Court, which also dismissed his case, making the ruling final.
Lu finally appealed to the Constitutional Court, claiming that his quarantine led to a deprivation of his right to vote.
As both acts lacked voting provisions for people quarantined due to an illness, Lu said that they violate the principle of equality and raise concerns about constitutionality.
The Constitutional Court declined to accept the petition, concluding that Lu’s request was based solely on his subjective opinion and was not a matter of constitutionality, thereby failing to meet the requirements to request a constitutional judgement.
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