Central Election Commission (CEC) chair nominee Michael You (游盈隆) yesterday told lawmakers that he would support holding referendums at the same time as national elections.
If confirmed by legislators to serve as CEC chair, You said that he would resign from his job as head of the public polling firm the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation (台灣民意基金會) so as to maintain a neutral stance and to uphold high standards for himself.
“To head the CEC, I know some sacrifices have to be made, such as losing the freedom to openly discuss politics. It is a big sacrifice for me as an intellectual and a political scientist, but I shall make such a trade-off,” he said.
Photo: CNA
As part of the confirmation process, legislators requested that You and CEC deputy chair nominee, Soochow University law professor Hu Po-yen (胡博硯), attend a joint meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee and the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
“In the past I had supported holding referendums at same time as national elections, and would still uphold the same stance if I become CEC chairman,” You told Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷).
You was asked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators if the CEC would be able to implement absentee voting for this year’s nine-in-one elections, as opposition parties are pushing to amend election laws to permit it.
“Under the current voting system and its procedures, absentee voting would certainly turn into a disaster, but if the Legislative Yuan passes amendments to election laws to allow absentee voting, the CEC would have to abide by it and provide full support for it,” You said.
You, a political science professor, is a former member of the DPP who was nominated as the party’s candidate for Hualien County commissioner in 2001 and 2003. He lost to KMT candidates on both occasions and later cofounded the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation, leaving the DPP in 2019.
Since then You has often criticized DPP leaders and their policies, and that perceived independence could help him to get confirmed by legislators from the three main parties.
On the public referendum issue, You said that there were numerous issues and problems encountered by voters, officials and staff at polling stations during the 2018 nine-in-one elections.
“That 2018 voting day was a nightmare,” he said of a day when voters also cast ballots on 10 referendums.
“It led to chaos, and many people did not understand the procedures and voting regulations,” he added.
The CEC has amended the regulations since to give the public at least three months’ notification for referendums and also loosened the restrictions on the hiring of staff at polling stations, he said, adding that the CEC should now be able hold referendums at the same time as elections.
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