Presidential, legislative elections may be held together: CEC
Taipei, March 11 (CNA) The 2012 presidential and legislative elections may be held at the same time, but if absentee voting is introduced, it might be better to start that system in the presidential election, a senior election official said Thursday.
Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Rai Hau-min said the government’s policy is to streamline and combine as many elections as possible to reduce their frequency.
He was responding to questions from the press about his reactions to a recent remark by Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang that national development and reform are hampered by the frequency of elections.
The public’s best interests should be the main consideration in any decision to combine elections, Rai said later in the day while fielding questions in a Legislative Yuan committee meeting.
Factors such as “accuracy, fairness and feasibility” should also be evaluated in the process of deciding whether to combine elections, Rai said, adding that the CEC should not make any decision on the matter before a comprehensive assessment has been conducted.
During the hearing, several lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties expressed concern over the possibility of the 2012 presidential and legislative elections being held together.
In response, Rai said the CEC would not rule out that possibility.
The current presidential term will expire May 19, 2012, while the legislative terms will end Jan. 31, 2012. It has been customary for presidential elections to be held in March and legislative elections in January.
There are no legal restrictions to moving up the presidential election, but the Constitution will have to be amended if the legislative election is to be delayed, Rai said.
Therefore, he said, it would be more feasible to bring forward the presidential election to January 2012 so that it could be held at the same time as the legislative poll.
During the meeting, lawmakers also asked Rai about a proposal to introduce absentee voting.
“The CEC stance is that the new voting system should start in the presidential election because only one constituency and a single ballot will be involved, which will make it simple in terms of the practical polling process,” Rai explained.
Asked whether the proposed absentee voting system is likely to be implemented in the mayoral elections for five special municipalities late this year, Rai said that would be too hasty a move.
The government is mulling an absentee voting system under which eligible voters will be allowed to cast ballots on election day in the constituencies where they work rather than in the places where their households are registered, as the current rules stipulate. (By Lee Shu-hua and Sofia Wu)
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