CEC decides to adopt one-step voting system
By Amber Wu
Taiwan Journal
After a heated debate lasting more than three hours, the Central Election Commission resolved with a 9-4 vote that the legislative elections and two referendums to be held Jan. 12, 2008 will adopt the one-step voting procedure instead of the two-step one. Four ballots--two for legislative elections and two for referendums--will be handed out together and then be cast into separate boxes, CEC Secretary-General Teng Tien-you announced Nov. 16, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported the same day.
As for the dispute over ballots being put into the wrong boxes, CEC Chief Commissioner Masa Chang stated that they will still count as valid ballots.
Under the "single-constituency, two-votes" system, voters will use one ballot to choose a legislative candidate and the other to support a political party. The latter will decide on the distribution of the at-large legislative seats among parties. In regards to the referendums, the first one proposed by the ruling Democratic Progress Party was intended to compel the opposition Kuomintang to return its inappropriately obtained assets to the government, amassed during the time the KMT was the ruling party. The other referendum, initiated by the KMT, was meant for constituents to express their opinions about fighting corruption.
Due to the fact that the referendums are going to be held along with the legislative elections, the DPP and the KMT have argued relentlessly over the voting procedures. The DPP insists that for the voters' convenience, they should receive all four ballots at the same time. The KMT and its pan-blue ally, the People First Party, claim that the two-step procedure, which has voters cast their legislative votes and then proceed to another location in the same polling station to submit their referendum votes, would prevent voters from getting confused.
Seeing such divergent opinions, the CEC originally said the issue needed further discussion and postponed a final decision on the voting system, which was scheduled to be announced Oct. 26. The CEC conducted a poll among local electoral authorities to gather their opinions on this matter, and the result showed that the 18 cities and counties governed by KMT-affiliated leaders preferred to administer the two-step voting system.
Although the CEC has finalized its policy, the controversy has not ended. The KMT protested and vowed to boycott the one-step system. KMT Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan said in a Sept. 16 CNA report that the pan-blue camp will file an administrative lawsuit against the CEC's resolution. KMT Deputy Secretary-General Liao Feng-teh stated in the same report that the 18 cities and counties controlled by the KMT and the PFP would boycott the CEC decision and persist in using the two-step voting format.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin expressed his support for the two-step voting procedure and argued that local governments have the authority to decide on the operation of voting stations, the CNA reported Nov. 17. He stressed that the two-step procedure could prevent disputes over election-related issues.
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou echoed by reaffirming that the running of the voting stations is under the jurisdiction of local authorities, as stipulated by the Public Officials Election and Recall Law and the Local Government Act, the CNA reported Nov. 17. "The 18 cities and counties of the pan-blue camp will not be in violation of the law, since the CEC's decision is only an administrative order," Ma explained in the report, adding that "the pan-blue local governments will handle the election their own way and prepare well to ensure everything goes properly on election day."
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng commented that although the one-step voting system is convenient for the process of distributing ballots, the two-step procedure would facilitate vote-counting, which is more important for the public. "If there were any ballots put into the wrong boxes, then the result would not be clear until the officials counted all the ballots, including referendum votes," Wang pointed out in a Nov. 19 CNA report, stressing that "it takes too long and creates controversy." He also predicted that the situation will be chaotic in those counties that adopt the one-step voting procedure. Wang questioned why the CEC changed the system, since the two-step scheme went well in the 2004 presidential election.
Facing such strong opposition, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung responded in the same CNA report by saying that local electoral authorities are obliged to obey the CEC. Government spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey also urged opposition parities to respect and follow the CEC resolution, for it was made on the principle of simplicity and convenience. In the same CNA report, Shieh blasted critics for "lacking the spirit of democracy" and "treating the Taiwanese people with distrust." DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh supported the CEC in the Nov. 17 CNA report, claiming that "the disagreement is a disadvantage for the public and it will lead to further confrontations."
The CEC warned that it will not provide funds for extra personnel if local governments adopted the two-step system. Moreover, the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries will reprimand local electoral officials who defied the CEC resolution, the agency stated in a Nov. 19 report by the Chinese-language United Daily News. The Executive Yuan also threatened to cut funding to local governments if they insisted on boycotting, the CNA reported Nov. 19.