2022 Taiwanese constitutional referendum

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2022 Taiwanese constitutional referendum
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 %
Yes 5,647,102 52.96%
No 5,016,427 47.04%
Valid votes 10,663,529 93.99%
Invalid or blank votes 682,403 6.01%
Total votes 11,345,932 100.00%
Eligible to vote/turnout 19,239,392 58.97%

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.

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

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
Electorate 19,239,392 100.00
Threshold 9,619,696 50.00
Agree votes 5,647,102 52.96 29.35
Disagree votes 5,016,427 47.04 26.07
Valid votes 10,663,529 93.99 55.54
Invalid votes 682,403 6.02 3.55
Total votes 11,345,932 100.00 58.97
Outcome Failed

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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c Strong, Matthew (25 March 2022). "Taiwan Legislature approves lowering of voting age to 18". Taiwan News. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  18. ^ a b 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.
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