Under the government’s COVID-19 quarantine policy, confirmed cases are not allowed to leave their residences, which would make voting impossible for people with COVID-19.
The average daily caseload last week was more than 39,000, down 25 percent from the same period the previous week. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has predicted that confirmed COVID-19 cases could drop to about 20,000 a day in a week or two. By the time of the local elections next month, there might be about 200,000 confirmed cases unable to cast their ballots due to a requirement to quarantine at home.
“Regardless of whether you test positive for COVID-19 or are obligated to isolate at home, you can vote in polling stations as long as you are legally allowed to go outside,” Central Election Commission Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said on Monday.
However, as the CECC is acting in accordance with the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法), the movement of confirmed cases is still restricted, meaning they are prohibited from leaving their homes to exercise their voting rights.
I was crestfallen to discover that the commission has not tried to fix the problem, while other countries have found ways to allow people with COVID-19 to vote in elections.
South Korea adopted mail-in voting and extended the voting hours, so confirmed cases could enter polling stations in the evening, separate from other voters.
In Japan, after confirmed cases apply to vote by mail at least four days before the election, they receive a return envelope and a ballot.
Many US states have a long history of allowing voters to cast their ballots by mail, helping confirmed cases to vote.
In Australia, anyone who tests positive is eligible to use a telephone service to vote, while in the UK, confirmed cases can apply for an emergency proxy vote.
The Singaporean government set up special polling stations for those in home isolation to use.
Democracies around the globe have strived to protect every eligible citizen’s fundamental right to vote.
During the Martial Law era from 1949 to 1987, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was notorious for rigging elections. Taiwanese back then regarded voting as something of an exercise in futility, which could explain why citizens and officials have long overlooked the importance of voter enfranchisement.
Now that there is bipartisan consensus on lowering the voting age to broaden civic participation, the government should take corresponding measures to set up channels for COVID-19 cases to exercise their voting rights.
As many countries have lifted COVID-19 restrictions and bans, perhaps the CECC could temporarily lift restrictions on election day, or the legislature could amend the Special Act for Prevention, Relief and Revitalization Measures for Severe Pneumonia with Novel Pathogens (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例) to exclude those that have been infected with certain variants of SARS-CoV-2.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unwise to “go the extra mile” with his “zero COVID-19” strategy to consolidate his political authority. In Taiwan, a country that celebrates democratic values, the government should consider and ensure the voting rights of 200,000 citizens. It is time for the CECC and the Central Election Commission to come together and fix voting problems before the local elections.
Lai Yu-che is a retired professor and a farmer in Hualien.
Translated by Rita Wang
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to