The referendum to lower the voting age to 18 needs to be held concurrently with local elections in November, considering the high threshold required for a constitutional amendment to pass in a plebiscite, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) official said on Saturday.
The Legislative Yuan on Friday voted 109-0 to lower the voting age to 18 from 20, setting the stage for a referendum to put the constitutional amendment to a public vote. The referendum must be held within three months following a six-month buffer period, meaning that it must be held between October and the end of this year. At least half of all eligible voters must vote in its favor for the amendment to pass.
The DPP, a cosponsor of the amendment, pushed for its passage this month in the hopes of holding the referendum concurrently with the local elections set for Nov. 26, on the grounds that a higher turnout would boost its chance of passing.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The Central Election Commission has the final say on the feasibility of holding the votes concurrently.
This year’s vote would be fundamentally different from the nine-in-one elections in 2018, as only one referendum question would be on the ballot, the DPP official said on condition of anonymity.
The 2018 vote was criticized for confusing voters and putting a heavy burden on polling staff, as 10 referendum items were put to a vote alongside the local elections.
A referendum last year calling for referendums to be held alongside elections was rejected. The DPP, arguing against the proposal by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), had in part cited the logistical difficulties encountered during the 2018 elections.
However, voting on a single referendum question would not place too heavy a burden on voters and staff, the official said on Saturday.
If the constitutional amendment is not put to a vote alongside the local elections, it might not pass, given the high threshold, they added.
However, the official said the Central Election Commission is an independent agency and would make a decision without interference from the Presidential Office or the DPP.
The officials also questioned the feasibility of holding two major votes in quick succession, as the referendum must be held soon before or after the local elections if they are not held concurrently.
The KMT has opposed holding the referendum on Nov. 26, accusing the DPP of contradicting its stance on last year’s referendum.
The referendum should be held on a “more appropriate” date to give all four major parties a chance to promote it together, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday.
All parties agree on the issue and are sincerely pushing for its passage, Chu said.
He also urged against political calculations or attempts to discredit other parties, referencing barbs traded between the KMT and the DPP over the weekend about which party had first called for the amendment.
It has also already been decided — with strong support from the DPP — that referendums should not be held alongside elections, in part to minimize potential interference on electoral decisions, Chu added.
“Is this not a contradiction?” he said, calling on the DPP to explain its reversal after only three months.
However, KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who is seeking the party’s candidacy for Taipei mayor in November, struck a different tone, saying there are arguments either way.
The most important thing is to pass the amendment to give young people the right to participate in public affairs, he added.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the KMT said the amendment should be passed as soon as possible now that a consensus has been reached.
Additional reporting by Lai Hsiao-tung
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS