As presidential candidates increase their efforts to canvass support from first-time voters, lawmakers from across party lines are mulling whether to amend the law to lower the legal voting age to 18 years.
However, some academics cast doubt on the idea, saying that lowering the legal voting age would require a constitutional amendment.
According to Article 130 of the Constitution, citizens of the Republic of China (ROC) have the right to vote when they are 20 years old and “unless otherwise stipulated in the Constitution or in other laws, citizens of the ROC have the right to be voted for when they are legally 23 years old.”
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the New Party tried to lower the legal voting age when earlier amendments were made to the Constitution. Those moves were blocked by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
In an effort to lower the legal voting age, DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) concluded a petition to amend the Constitution and handed it to the Constitutional Amendment Committee on May 13.
Currently, an amendment to the Constitution not only requires that it be proposed by at least a quarter of all legislators, that at least three-quarters of all legislators vote and that the vote be passed by three-quarters of voting legislators, it also needs to be ratified by a referendum with over 50 percent of voters voting in favor.
KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), proposed a way to circumvent the need to introduce a constitutional amendment, suggesting that the relevant laws could be amended by the Legislative Yuan.
Ting described as ludicrous the situation whereby ROC citizens who are 18 years old are legally responsible for any criminal behavior they engage in and eligible for mandatory military service, but still unable to vote.
Ting argued that his proposal did not necessitate an amendment to the Constitution because in a case where the Constitution directly undermines people’s rights, it should be interpreted loosely.
Whether or not to grant young adults under 20 years of age the right to vote should be a discretionary decision for legislators, Ting said.
However, an earlier forum hosted by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on the issue was unanimous in its opinion that the lowering of the legal voting age necessitated an amendment to the Constitution that could not be circumvented.
According to National Taiwan University department of political science professor Hwang Giin-tarng (黃錦堂), a proponent for lowering the legal voting age to 18 years of age, the Constitution is very explicit and to make a different interpretation of “legally 20 years old” would knock loose other articles and make it untenable. That view was echoed by Liao Da-chi (廖達琪), director of National Sun Yat-sen University’s institute of political science.
Aside from mulling changes to the legal age for voting, a number of DPP lawmakers have also been actively proposed amendments so that general elections held on Sundays, as well as extending voting hours, in a bid to ensure laborers who have to work on polling day are still able to vote.
The Central Election Commission traditionally sets polling days on Saturdays, with voting taking place from 8am until 4pm.
In light of the MOI’s pushing of absentee voting last year, DPP legislators feel that they should prioritize the voting rights of citizens who live in Taiwan, adding that extending voting hours for laborers having to work on Saturday would protect their right to vote.
DPP legislators said that neither the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act ( 總統副總統選舉罷免法) nor the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選罷法) explicitly designated Saturday as polling day, nor did they stipulate how many hours should be allowed for voting.
However, the commission opposes the extension in voting hours, saying that when such a measure was adopted during the 2009 mayoral and county commissioner elections, there was no visible increase in voter turnout, suggesting the two matters are not closely connected.
Besides, an extension in voting hours would cause election personnel to be overburdened and delay the opening time of the ballots, as well as increasing security risks during transport, the commission said.
On the matter of holding voting on Sunday, Central Electioon Commission Secretary-General Teng Tien-yu (鄧天祐) added that if there was a delay in the counting of ballots, it would directly impact the next working day. That said, Teng added that he remained neutral about the proposal.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association
RSS