The Ministry of the Interior put forward an amendment to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act Jan. 17 providing a legal basis for absentee voting.
According to MOI Minister Jiang Yi-huah, in past presidential elections people have spent much time and money returning to their registered place of residence to vote. “It is a burden and waste of resources for both individuals and society,” he said. “Many people have even given up the opportunity to vote.”
“Suffrage is a basic right people are entitled to under the ROC Constitution,” Jiang said. “It should not be denied due to profession, working environment or physical condition.”
Huang Li-hsin, director of the MOI’s Civil Affairs Department, said according to the proposed revision absentee voting would apply only to citizens residing in Taiwan. Voters would have to cast their ballots in person on election day, and there would be no postal voting.
People living away from their registered households could apply to vote in the district where they currently live, Huang said, and military personnel would vote at polling stations off base.
The MOI proposal includes two possibilities for the implementation of absentee voting in prisons. One is to set up polling booths in prisons, with votes counted elsewhere at a site determined by the election commission; the other is simply not to allow it.
The proposed amendment will next be sent to the Cabinet for approval, the MOI said.
