Per the Central Election Commission’s (CEC’s) committee meeting on Wednesday, 19 recall petitions for the removal of KMT legislators and for suspended Hsinchu Mayor and Taiwan People's Party constituent Ann Kao (高虹安) have passed the first round of review. Petitions for the removal of nine other legislators require further supplementation.
According to the CEC’s website, the removal process involves three main stages: proposal, co-signature, and voting. To pass the first stage, more than 1% of the total number of voters in the original electoral district must submit recall proposals. More than 10% of the total number of voters must then cosign within a period of 60 days. The final stage must see the number of votes in favor of recall exceed more than a fourth of the total number of voters in the electoral district.
As of Thursday, the CEC has received a total of 64 recall cases for legislators, mayors, and councilors. Per the Public officials Election And Recall Act, they must review the submitted proposals within 25 days. Therefore, the petitions for the removal of Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), Li Yen-shui (李彥秀), Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁), and several other KMT constituents that were submitted February 3 should be reviewed by this Friday. Since these motions were submitted before the amended legislation passed on February 20, they are exempt from the new requirements for valid co-signature.