A proposed constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to 18 from 20 did not pass yesterday after it failed to garner the minimum number of votes required.
The referendum, which asked voters if they agree to amend the Additional Articles of the Constitution to grant Taiwanese aged 18 years or older the right to vote and the right to run for public office, was held concurrently with local government elections.
The referendum needed 9,619,697 “yes” votes, or half the number of eligible voters, to pass.
Photo: CNA
The Central Election Commission data showed that 5,647,102 voted “yes,” while 5,016,427voted against the proposal.
To amend the Constitution, a draft amendment must first pass the legislature with three-quarters of legislators present and three-quarters of those present voting for it. The amendment must then be endorsed in a national referendum.
The 113-seat legislature on March 25 voted 109-0 in favor of lowering the voting age, sending a message of cross-party support for the measure and sending it to a national referendum.
A plebiscite on a proposed constitutional amendment is different from referendums seeking to change a government policy or law.
The election commission has said that referendums on constitutional amendments are not subject to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), which allows citizens aged 18 or older to vote and prohibits holding referendums on the same day as national elections.
The commission also cited the Constitution as saying that only citizens aged 20 or older are eligible to vote in referendums on constitutional amendments.
In addition, referendums on constitutional amendments requires twice the number of “yes” votes to pass, while other referendums only require 25 percent of eligible votes to cast a ballot and a majority to support the proposed policy or law.
This story has been updated since it was first published.
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft. The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft. The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,
Some foreign companies are considering moving Taiwanese employees out of China after Beijing said it could impose the death penalty on “die-hard” Taiwanese independence advocates, four people familiar with the matter said. The new guidelines have caused some Taiwanese expatriates and foreign multinationals operating in China to scramble to assess their legal risks and exposure, said the people, who include a lawyer and two executives with direct knowledge of the discussions. “Several companies have come to us to assess the risks to their personnel,” said the lawyer, James Zimmerman, a Beijing-based partner at the Perkins Coie law firm. He declined to identify