Premiere Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said absentee voting needs to be carefully considered, responding to an amendment to the electoral procedure proposed by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers.
Several KMT legislators have recently introduced a new bill to permit absentee voting and voting by mail. Chen said in an interview on Monday that voting is the legal right of citizens and is protected by both the Constitution and the law. He added, however, that the government must also take into account the fairness and accuracy of every election which is why absentee voting still requires further evaluation.
Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairperson Lee Chin-Yung (李進勇) said the Cabinet’s draft of the absentee-voting act has been delivered to the legislature and that he hopes its legalization will be completed shortly. Lee said in an interview that democratic countries have been facing enormous challenges from foreign intervention in recent years.
Lee added that any electoral reform must adhere to the core principles of democracy. He emphasized the government will safeguard the elections from foreign forces infiltrating the nation’s democratic processes.