Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections have attracted the attention of the international community, and Taiwan’s voting procedure has generated much discussion and debate.
On an election day, voters first have their ID cards checked by staff upon arrival at the polling station, followed by voters putting a stamp or fingerprint on the name list. Voters then receive the ballots and mark whom they wish to vote for using the tools prepared by the election commission. Voters then fold the ballots in half and deposit them into ballot boxes according to the paper’s colors.
After polling, staff members manually count the ballots one by one, read the vote out loud and display it to the attending witnesses. After the counting at stations is completed, managers compile a written report of the results and post it on the bulletin board outside the station and then designate a courier to deliver the station results to the township electoral operation centers, so the results can be entered into a centralized computing system.
The Counting and Information Center for Election provides real-time election results. The public can check up-to-date polling counts through the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) Web site on election day.
While some have praised Taiwan’s voting system as transparent and prudent, some have called it obsolete for not incorporating electronic voting, postal voting and prepoll voting.
In face of China’s nefarious ploys to interfere in Taiwan’s elections, the current system — including in-person voting, paper ballots and manual counting — can prevent China’s hacking or electronic rigging.
Nevertheless, the linking between place of residence and voting rights have inconvenienced people and prevented those working or studying abroad, polling station staff and on-duty security officers from exercising their voting rights, while prisoners are also deprived of their rights.
According to the demographic breakdown released by the CEC, it is apparent that an aged society and low birthrate are the underlying reasons for generational conflicts. For young people working or studying away from their registered residence, the distance, the amount of traffic and time to travel discourage them from voting. On the other hand, retired elderly living in their registered residence have a higher turnout rate than young people. If the government wishes to introduce prepoll voting, postal voting or electronic voting, to ensure privacy and information security, it should wait until the technology matures and society reaches a consensus on the issue. To protect the voting rights of every citizen, conducting “nonresidence voting” by allowing people to vote near one’s place of study or work is a feasible direction for reform.
Jiang Zung-shiang is a lawyer. He holds a master’s degree in law from National Defense University.
Translated by Rita Wang
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
The US Department of State has removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” in its updated Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, which instead iterates that “we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait.” This shows a tougher stance rejecting China’s false claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Since switching formal diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China in 1979, the US government has continually indicated that it “does not support Taiwan independence.” The phrase was removed in 2022
US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have each given their thoughts on Russia’s war with Ukraine. There are a few proponents of US skepticism in Taiwan taking advantage of developments to write articles claiming that the US would arbitrarily abandon Ukraine. The reality is that when one understands Trump’s negotiating habits, one sees that he brings up all variables of a situation prior to discussion, using broad negotiations to take charge. As for his ultimate goals and the aces up his sleeve, he wants to keep things vague for
RSS