2022 Taiwanese constitutional referendum

Last updated

2022 Taiwanese constitutional referendum
Flag of the Republic of China.svg
26 November 2022
Any citizen of the Republic of China who has attained the age of 18 years shall have the right of election, recall, initiative and referendum in accordance with law. Except as otherwise provided by this Constitution or by law, any citizen who has attained the age of 18 years shall have the right of being elected in accordance with law. The provisions of Articles 130 of the Constitution shall cease to apply.
Voting systemAmendment is ratified if votes in favour exceed half of eligible voters (9,619,696).
OutcomeFailed due to insufficient votes
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes5,647,10252.96%
Light brown x.svgNo5,016,42747.04%
Valid votes10,663,52993.99%
Invalid or blank votes682,4036.01%
Total votes11,345,932100.00%
Eligible to vote/turnout19,239,39258.97%

A constitutional referendum was held in Taiwan on 26 November 2022. Voters voted on adding Article 1-1 to the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China. Had it passed, the voting age would have been lowered from 20 to 18 years. The amendment would also have lowered the minimum age of candidacy from 23 to 18 years once the relevant electoral laws had been amended accordingly.

Contents

It was the first constitutional referendum since the suspension of the National Assembly in 2005. The amendment was defeated after the number of votes in favour of the motion fell short the threshold of half the eligible voters. [1]

Background

The Constitution of the Republic of China was passed on 25 December 1947 by the Nationalist government who controlled Mainland China when the country was in turmoil at the time. As relations between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) became tense, the National Assembly invoked article 174 of the constitution and adopted the Temporary Provisions, but the KMT had been driven off the mainland in 1949 by the CCP. The KMT then relocated the central government to Taiwan, formerly a Qing province that the ROC obtained from the Japanese Empire in 1945. However, the democratization period saw the elimination of the Temporary Provisions under Lee Teng-hui in 1991 and introduced the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China that saw the National Assembly's powers reduced and transferred to the Legislative Yuan before finally suspending itself on 7 June 2005.

This is the first time ratification of a constitutional amendment will be attempted via referendum without the consent of the National Assembly. [2]

There were several previous efforts and discussions to lower the voting age and related minimum ages from 20 to 18. [3] Proposals of such were defeated by the National Assembly in 1990s. In 2005, Youth Rights Alliance Taiwan became the first civic group to advocate lowering the voting age. [4] Movement grew stronger in 2015 as the Constitutional Amendment Committee  [ zh ] of the Legislative Yuan debated on the issue, but failed to advance as KMT's demand to include absentee voting in constitutional amendment did not gather support from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). [5]

Successful incremental moves included a set of amendments to the Referendum Act passed in December 2017, one of which permitted eighteen-year-olds to vote in non-constitutional referendums. [6] [7] In August 2020, the Executive Yuan formally proposed that the age of majority be lowered from 20 to 18. [8] Subsequently, the Legislative Yuan approved related amendments to the Civil Code of the Republic of China  [ zh ] in December 2020. [9] [10] [11]

Parliamentary debate

Rally outside Legislative Yuan in support of lowering voting age Vote for 18!Shi Ba Sui Gong Min Quan 01.jpg
Rally outside Legislative Yuan in support of lowering voting age

Previous attempts to lower the voting age specifically included a bill proposed by the KMT legislative caucus in March 2020. [12] In May 2020, Tsai Ing-wen confirmed the Constitutional Amendment Committee will be established in the new session of the Legislative Yuan to discuss relevant proposals. [13] The committee was formally set up in October 2020. [14]

On 18 January 2022, the Constitutional Amendment Committee reviewed and passed a bill jointly sponsored by the DPP, New Power Party, and Taiwan People's Party. [15] The referendum was necessitated after the Legislative Yuan voted 109–0 on 25 March 2022 to lower the voting age and the age to stand for election to 18. [16] [17] Four legislators did not attend the vote, [18] including three from the KMT. Eight youth rights groups and nongovernmental organizations formed a coalition to advocate for the bill's passage. [19] Supporters of the bill had used the hashtag #votefor18 when discussing the bill online. [20] On the day of the vote, a number of high school students gathered outside the Legislative Yuan, cheering when the bill passed. [18]

Amendment

Voters will vote on adding Article 1-1 to the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, translated as: [21]

Any citizen of the Republic of China who has attained the age of 18 years shall have the right of election, recall, initiative and referendum in accordance with law. Except as otherwise provided by this Constitution or by law, any citizen who has attained the age of 18 years shall have the right of being elected in accordance with law.
The provisions of Articles 130 of the Constitution shall cease to apply.

— Proposed Article 1-1 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China

If passed, voting age will be lowered from 20 to 18 years; the age for right to recall, initiative and participate in referendums will be set to 18 years by the constitution; the age of candidacy will be lowered from 23 to 18 years (only to come into effect once the relevant electoral laws regulating the age of candidacy are amended accordingly). [22]

Referendum threshold

The Central Election Commission announced on 15 April 2022 that the referendum would be held concurrently with local elections on 26 November. [23]

Suffrage is a right guaranteed in the Constitution of the Republic of China to citizens above the age of 20, and the right to stand for election is guaranteed to citizens above the age of 23 (except in cases outlined in the Constitution and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act  [ zh ]). [24] [25]

Per the Constitution's Additional Articles, after a vote for a constitutional amendment has passed with at least a three-fourths supermajority of a three-fourths quorum in the Legislative Yuan, the amendment must be voted on via referendum within a three-month period six months after the public announcement. [16] [26] Half of all eligible voters (9,619,696) must vote for the referendum proposal for it to pass. [16] [17] Although the Referendum Act allows citizens older than 18 to vote on referendums, citizens younger than 20 cannot participate in the voting age referendum because the voting age for referendums regarding constitutional amendments is outlined in the Constitution. [17] [27]

Results

With 5.6 million voting in support, 5 million in opposition, and six percent of voters casting invalid ballots, the referendum failed. [28] [29] In conjunction with 2022 local elections, it was thought that a desire among KMT supporters to contain the Democratic Progressive Party, along with a higher turnout among those supporters, contributed to the referendum's failure to pass. [30]

2022 Constitutional Referendum Results [31]
Count%% electorate
Electorate19,239,392100.00
Threshold9,619,69650.00
Agree votes5,647,10252.9629.35
Disagree votes5,016,42747.0426.07
Valid votes10,663,52993.9955.54
Invalid votes682,4036.023.55
Total votes11,345,932100.0058.97
OutcomeFailed

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Taiwan</span>

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is governed in a framework of a representative democratic republic under a five-power system first envisioned by Sun Yat-sen in 1906, whereby under the constitutional amendments, the President is head of state and the Premier is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Executive Yuan. Legislative power is vested primarily in the Legislative Yuan. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. In addition, the Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants, and the Control Yuan inspects, reviews, and audits the policies and operations of the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of the Republic of China</span> Head of state of the Republic of China

The president of the Republic of China, commonly known as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (Taiwan) as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The position once had authority of ruling over Mainland China, but its remaining jurisdictions has been limited to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other smaller islands since the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legislative Yuan</span> Unicameral national legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel voting system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly (Republic of China)</span> 1947–2005 electoral college and constitutional convention in the East Asian country

The National Assembly was the authoritative legislative body of the Republic of China, from 1947 to 2005. Along with the Control Yuan and the Legislative Yuan, the National Assembly formed the tricameral parliament of the Republic of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of the Republic of China</span> Supreme law of the East Asian country

The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the Constituent National Assembly session on 25 December 1946, in Nanjing, and adopted on 25 December 1947. The constitution, along with its Additional Articles, remains effective in ROC-controlled territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Control Yuan</span> Investigative agency of the Republic of China government

The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China, both during its time in mainland China and Taiwan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Taiwanese legislative election</span>

The 2004 Taiwanese legislative election was held on 11 December 2004. All 225 seats of the Legislative Yuan were up for election: 168 elected by single non-transferable vote, 41 elected through party-list Proportional representation, eight elected from overseas Chinese constituencies on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected by popular vote among the aboriginal populations. Members served three-year terms beginning on 1 February 2005, and ending 31 January 2008. The next term served four years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Taiwanese National Assembly election</span>

An election for the National Assembly took place in Taiwan on Saturday, 14 May 2005, from 07:30 to 16:00 local time. It elected an ad hoc National Assembly whose only function was to serve as a constituent assembly in order to approve or reject amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of China already proposed by the Legislative Yuan. The results indicated that the amendments would be approved, as the parties supporting them won an overwhelming majority, and indeed the amendments were passed on 7 June 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Taiwanese legislative election</span>

Legislative elections were held in Taiwan on 12 January 2008 to elect the members of the Legislative Yuan. It was the first Legislative Yuan election after the constitutional amendments of 2005, which extended term length from three to four years, reduced seat count from 225 to 113, and introduced the current electoral system.

Referendums in Taiwan at both the national and local level are governed by the Referendum Act of Taiwan, which was enacted by the Legislative Yuan in December 2003. Citizens can propose laws via referendums at the national and local levels. The Referendum Act also allowed people to make changes or abolish laws by referendums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Hsieh</span> Taiwanese politician

George Hsieh is a Taiwanese politician. He is currently the mayor of Keelung City since 25 December 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiang Wan-an</span> Taiwanese politician and lawyer

Chiang Wan-an, also known as Wayne Chiang, is a Taiwanese politician who has served as the mayor of Taipei since December 2022. He is the son of former Vice Premier John Chiang, and is believed to be a great-grandson of former President Chiang Kai-shek. He is the youngest mayor of Taipei since the appointment of Chang Feng-hsu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chien Tung-ming</span> Taiwanese politician (1951–2024)

Chien Tung-ming was a Taiwanese politician. Also known by the Paiwan-language name Uliw Qaljupayare, he represented the Highland Aborigine district for the Kuomintang from 2008 to 2020 at the Legislative Yuan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hsu Shu-hua</span> Taiwanese politician

Hsu Shu-hua is a Taiwanese politician serving as magistrate of Nantou County.

Events from the year 2020 in Taiwan, Republic of China. This year is numbered Minguo 109 according to the official Republic of China calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Kuomintang chairmanship election</span>

The 2021 Kuomintang chairmanship election was scheduled to be held in July 2021. It was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually rescheduled for 25 September 2021. It was the tenth direct election of the party leader in Kuomintang (KMT) history. All registered, due-paying KMT party members were eligible to vote.

A four-question referendum was held in Taiwan on 18 December 2021. The vote was originally scheduled to take place on 28 August 2021, but was postponed to December due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All four questions were popular initiatives. According to the Referendum Act, referendums can be held once every two years on the fourth Saturday of August and questions must gather a number of signatures equivalent to 1.5% of eligible voters (280,000) in order to qualify.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Taiwanese local elections</span>

Local elections were held in Taiwan on 26 November and 18 December 2022 to elect county magistrates, county (city) councilors, township mayors, township councilors and chiefs of village (borough) in 6 municipalities and 16 counties (cities). Elected officials would serve a four-year term. The election was held alongside the 2022 Taiwanese constitutional referendum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chung Tung-chin</span> Taiwanese politician

Chung Tung-chin is a Taiwanese politician. He was elected to the Miaoli County Council in 2014 and became its speaker in 2018. He vacated his council seat and leadership in 2022 to take office as magistrate of Miaoli County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chou Chun-mi</span> Taiwanese politician

Chou Chun-mi is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer who is currently Magistrate of Pingtung County, serving since 2022. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), she served in the Legislative Yuan from 2016 until 2022.

References

  1. ↑ Chou, Bryan (26 November 2022). "Taiwan Fails To Lower the Voting Age to 18". The News Lens International Edition. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  2. ↑ 王承中 (25 March 2022). "立院通過18歲公民權修憲案 公民複決須965萬票以上" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  3. ↑ Hale, Erin (8 February 2022). "Movement to Lower Taiwan's Voting Age to 18 Gains Momentum". Voice of America. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  4. ↑ 李修慧 (17 November 2018). "18歲都可以公投了，「投票權」為何13年來遲遲無法下修到18歲？". The News Lens 關鍵評論網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  5. ↑ 陳偉周 (12 January 2022). "國民黨拒出席修憲委員會 18歲公民投票權恐卡關 - 今周刊". www.businesstoday.com.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  6. ↑ Everington, Keoni (12 December 2017). "Taiwan's voting age for referendums lowered to 18". Taiwan News. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Lin, Sean (13 December 2017). "Referendum Act amendments approved". Taipei Times. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  8. ↑ Lin, Sean (14 August 2020). "Cabinet approves lowering age of majority to 18". Taipei Times. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  9. ↑ Strong, Matthew (25 December 2020). "Taiwan lowers age of majority to 18". Taiwan News. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "Majority age lowered to 18 in Taiwan". Taiwan Today. 28 December 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Legislature sets 18 as age of adulthood". Central News Agency. 25 December 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  12. ↑ Liu, Kuan-ting; Yeh, Joseph (29 March 2020). "KMT hopes voting age can be lowered to 18 before 2022 elections" . Retrieved 25 March 2022. Republished as: "KMT seeking to lower voting age before Taiwan's 2022 elections". Taiwan News. Central News Agency. 29 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  13. ↑ 台北報導, 郭采彥 張國樑 / (20 May 2020). "蔡宣示啟動修憲 立院將成立修憲委員會 ｜ 公視新聞網 PNN". 公視新聞網 PNN. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  14. ↑ "憲改列車再度啟動 立法院會通過修憲委員會名單". Rti 中央廣播電臺 (in Chinese). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  15. ↑ Wang, Cheng-chung; Teng, Pei-ju (18 January 2022). "Constitutional revision to lower voting age passes committee review". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 March 2022. Republished as: "Bill to lower the voting age to 18 passes review". Taipei Times. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  16. 1 2 3 Teng, Pei-ju (25 March 2022). "Proposed amendment to lower voting age clears Legislature". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 March 2022. Republished as: "Lower voting age passed in legislature". 25 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  17. 1 2 3 Strong, Matthew (25 March 2022). "Taiwan Legislature approves lowering of voting age to 18". Taiwan News. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  18. 1 2 Teng, Pei-ju (25 March 2022). "Legislature passes constitutional bill to lower voting age (update)". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 March 2022. Dozens of students and NGO representatives gathered outside the Legislative Yuan building on Friday morning to express their support for the amendment. They shouted such slogans as "I am a high school student; I want my vote!" as the bill was being discussed on the legislative floor....The proposed amendment to grant a Taiwanese citizen who is 18 years of age and above the right to vote cleared the Legislature after all the 109 legislators in attendance voted unanimously in favor of the revision, sending the issue to a national referendum later this year...At the same time, those who gathered outside the Legislature cheered the approval of the bill by lawmakers.
  19. ↑ Wang, Cheng-chung; Teng, Pei-ju (23 March 2022). "Student groups call for bipartisan support for lowering voting age". Central News Agency. Retrieved 26 March 2022. At a press conference on Wednesday, a coalition of eight student groups and local NGOs, including the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy (TYAD) and the Judicial Reform Foundation, called on all lawmakers to vote in favor of the amendment.
  20. ↑ Wu, Su-wei; Chin, Jonathan (24 March 2022). "Groups call on lawmakers to lower the voting age". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  21. ↑ "Central Election Commission:::For the first time in R.O.C. constitutional history, the". Central Election Commission. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  22. ↑ 李秉芳 (21 November 2022). "反對修憲因為會讓18歲就能選立委和議員？學者和立委：還是要看後續配套修法，但「有何不可」". The News Lens 關鍵評論網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  23. ↑ Yen, William (15 April 2022). "Referendum on lowering voting age to be held with local elections". Central News Agency. Retrieved 15 April 2022. Republished as: "Voting age referendum to be held with elections". Taipei Times. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  24. ↑ Article XII, Clause 130 of the Constitution of the Republic of China  (1947)
  25. ↑ "Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act". Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  26. ↑ Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Office of the President. Also available at the Laws and Regulations Database, Ministry of Justice
  27. ↑ "Referendum Act". Act of 21 June 2019. Central Election Commission.
  28. ↑ Teng, Pei-ju (26 November 2022). "ELECTIONS 2022/Referendum on lowering voting age to 18 fails to pass". Central News Agency. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  29. ↑ Chen, Chih-chung; Teng, Pei-ju (27 November 2022). "ELECTIONS 2022/Groups call referendum result 'regrettable,' signal further action". Central News Agency. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  30. ↑ Lai, Yu-chen; Su, Lung-chi; Teng, Pei-ju; Lo, James (27 November 2022). "ELECTIONS 2022/Academics weigh in on failure of referendum to lower voting age". Central News Agency. Retrieved 27 November 2022. Republished as: "2022 ELECTIONS: ANALYSIS: Voters reject lower voting age to 'punish' DPP". Taipei Times. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  31. ↑ "2022 Constitutional Referendum". Central Election Commission. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.