The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) today used its majority on the legislature's Procedure Committee to place amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) on the legislative agenda.
The amendments proposed by KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) are scheduled to be sent to the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee for review on Friday.
The changes would require multiple referendum questions to be printed on a single ballot when two or more referendums are held simultaneously, while national election ballots would have to be counted before referendum ballots.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The amendments stipulate that a referendum must be held between three and six months after the Central Election Commission announces that a proposal has met the legal requirements.
If a national election is scheduled during that period, the referendum would be held on the same day as the election, the amendments say.
The current "one question, one ballot" system requires voters to line up separately to receive ballots for each referendum question when multiple referendums are held concurrently, creating congestion at polling stations, the amendments say.
The arrangement has contributed to controversies in which voting and vote counting took place simultaneously, they say.
Meanwhile, regulations do not clearly specify the order in which ballots should be counted when elections and referendums are held on the same day, potentially leading to disputes arising from inconsistent procedures at different polling stations, the amendments say.
The KMT caucus said it has proposed amendments to Articles 21, 23 and 43 of the Referendum Act to improve administrative efficiency, reduce election-related disputes and ensure the fairness of election and referendum procedures.
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