Wed, Dec 19, 2007 page1

• CEC says two-step voting is invalid

  'INAPPROPRIATE' The CEC head chided the secretary-general for his comments, saying members could not single-handedly decide whether a vote was valid or not

  • By Jenny Hsu, Flora Wang, Rich Chang, Shih Hsiu-chuan and Mo Yan / STAFF REPORTERS
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  The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday rebutted commission Secretary-General Teng Tien-yu's (鄧天祐) comment on Monday that votes cast via the two-step voting system would be considered valid. It also said that the results of next month's legislative elections would be finalized and announced within one week of the ballot -- and not on election day.

  CEC Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄), accompanied by Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉), slammed the two-step voting system advocated by the pan-blue camp, and said the commission would never allow "one nation, two systems" to prevail.

  They added that CEC officials who violate the commission's "one-step voting" procedure decree would face legal repercussions.

  "They may be found in violation of Article 153 of the Criminal Code for inciting the public to violate the law, as a result of which they might be given a two-year prison sentence," Chang said.

  Officials who employ the two-step voting system may also be punished in accordance with the Civil Servant Services Act (公務員服務法), Civil Service Performance Evaluation Act (公務人員考績法) and Law on Discipline of Public Functionaries (公務員懲戒法), Chang said.

  "No single member of the CEC, including myself, can decide whether ballots cast under the two-step voting process are valid or invalid," Chang said.

  The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have been at loggerheads about the voting system. The KMT prefers a two-step voting format in which voters would receive the legislative ballots and cast them first, before receiving the ballots for the two referendums.

  The DPP advocates a one-step voting system in which voters receive the ballots for the legislative elections and two referendums at two separate desks before casting them into four separate boxes.

  "The CEC decided on Nov. 16 to adopt the one-step voting system. We will carry through with our decision and prohibit any other type of voting," Chang said.

  Asked what would happen to ballots cast in polling stations that disregard the CEC decision, Chang said that by law, the CEC has one week to deliberate on the validity of the ballots before it announces the winners.

  BONA FIDE

  During a question-and-answer session on Monday with pan-blue lawmakers, Teng said all ballots, regardless of how they were cast, would be tallied as bona fide.

  "Teng's personal opinion cannot and does not represent the intent of the CEC," Chang said.

  Meanwhile, emphasizing that the two-step voting system was illegal and ineffective, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday he believed the CEC would take steps to implement the one-step voting format.

  In response to Chang's comments, the KMT caucus said Teng's remark showed his "conscience."

  KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) told a press conference that the legislature has Teng's remark on tape, adding that the commission could deny it.

  KMT Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) said the CEC's reaction to Teng's remark showed that "the Cabinet controlled the CEC and has undermined its independence."

  "The Democratic Progressive Party should rename itself the `Democratic Regressive Party,'" Tsai said.

  BIRD-FLU PRETEXT

  Kuo said KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) had received "information" from "friends from abroad" that the DPP could use a bird-flu alert as a pretext to prevent businesspeople based in China from returning to vote.

  Ting had questioned Minister of Health Hou Sheng-mou (侯勝茂) on the issue during a question-and-answer session in the legislature's Sanitation and Environment, as well as Social Welfare committees on Monday.

  Ting said at the time that four foreign diplomats based in Taipei had voiced their concern to him that the president might stop China-based Taiwanese businesspeople from returning to Taiwan to vote, or postpone or cancel the presidential election by raising the specter of person-to-person avian flu transmission.

  Ting, however, declined to reveal his sources on Monday, adding that the four diplomats did not come from "small countries," but from "economically strong" countries.

  In response, DPP caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) described the KMT allegations as groundless.

  Wang also echoed Chang's remarks on "one county, two systems," adding the nation would be considered separated if that were to happen.

  Wang said there was only the one-step voting procedure, no two-step voting, and that Teng's remarks were not worth discussing.

  Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday that Taipei City's Election Commission would not alter its stance on adopting two-step voting.

  NO PUNISHMENT

  Defending the authority of the city government and its commission to handle the elections in accordance with the Election and Recall Law (選罷法) and Local Government Act (地方制度法), Hau said the city government would ensure that no frontline election personnel would be punished for defying the CEC's one-step voting format.

  "We will not punish election personnel. Instead, we will give them rewards if the elections run smoothly," Hau said at Taipei City Hall.

  Hau said the commission has already recruited 20,500 election personnel, including 9,900 civil servants, to handle the elections.

  KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday defended local governments' authority and said the DPP was using the CEC as an election tool.

  Wu said he agreed with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng's (王金平) comment that the CEC should separate elections from referendums and hold the referendums on another day.

  KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended Teng.

  "Two-step voting is legal and the presidential election three years ago was held this way. It is the right explanation," Ma said.

  Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
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