《TAIPEI TIMES》 Cabinet presents changes to referendum legislation

CORRECTIONS: The draft amendments would separate referendums from general elections and require copies of voters’ identification to fix issues identified last year

By Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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The Executive Yuan yesterday introduced draft amendments to the Referendum Act （公民投票法） that would allow referendums to be held separately from general elections and bar referendum questions concerning human rights.

The draft amendments would extend the preparation period for referendums from one month to three; reword the law to allow the decoupling of referendums from national elections; require the provision of a photocopy of the front and back of the national identification card of signatories; and prohibit referendums from asking questions concerning human rights.

In addition, the amendments aim to shorten the main body of the text of a referendum, introduce referendum titles for easier reference and restrict referendum-related promotion on voting day.

The amendments seek to address problems made evident in November last year, when 10 referendums were held concurrently with the nine-in-one elections, leading to long lines at voting stations and a delayed ballot count, with counting in some instances taking place while voters were still in booths.

Central Election Commission chairman Chen In-chin （陳英鈐） resigned over the controversial handling of the elections.

The commission said that it would reinstate a requirement for identification to prevent the use of signatures from those who had died, a problem that was allegedly rampant during the signature-collecting process for three referendums proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT）.

Huang Shih-hsiu （黃士修） — the main proponent for last year’s referendum No. 16 that saw the timetable for the government’s “nuclear power-free homeland” policy scrapped — yesterday held a news conference to protest the reinstatement of the requirement for photocopies of signatories’ identification documents.

The restriction on human rights issues as referendum topics was proposed by supporters of same-sex marriage.

Premier Su Tseng-chang （蘇貞昌） said at a Cabinet meeting yesterday that many people worked hard on and fought for the act, adding that an amendment last year to lower the threshold to hold a referendum was meant to advance “direct democracy.”

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES

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