Constitutional Amendment Referendums with Elections? 綠委提修憲複決公投綁大選 藍營批矛盾

The referendum on binding referendums to general elections was voted down on Dec. 18. However, Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers suggested combining constitutional amendment referendums and general elections, prompting the Kuomintang to question the DPP's contradictory behavior.

The Central Election Commission delivered a report to the legislature's Internal Administration Committee on Dec. 27. The turnout for the Dec. 18 referendums was only 41 percent, and the referendum on binding referendums to general elections was vetoed. However, the legislature recently convened its Constitutional Amendment Committee, where Democratic Progressive Party legislators suggested combining constitutional amendment referendums and general elections. The Kuomintang had doubts.
 

Lin Wei-chou, Legislator (KMT): “It doesn't matter whether it's a constitutional referendum, a popular referendum, or a recall election. We want citizens to participate. The more citizens that participate, the more orientation of the outcomes can be shown..  So we have to see if we need to close the gaps, right?”
Lee Chin-yung, Chairperson, Central Election Commission: “Constitutional amendments are highly politicized. So right now our laws and regulations are insufficient... It would be best for the Referendum Act to have provisions on detailed procedures. Before we have these provisions, we can only base it on existing clauses on amendments and legislative resolutions. ”
  
KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou said the ruling party's approach to referendums should be unanimous, while CEC Chairperson Lee Chin-yung said the current Referendum Act does not provide explicit procedures and provisions for constitutional amendment referendums. DPP legislators threw their full support behind him. They said the vote counting proceeded smoothly for the Dec. 18 referendums because they weren't tied to elections, but they have concerns about the voting counting process for the by-election scheduled for January for Taichung's second electoral district.
 

Wang Mei-hui, Legislator (DPP): “The KMT believes the central government's election personnel are up to something. The DPP believes local government's election personnel are up to something. Why there are these opinions no matter what you do?”
Lee Chin-yung, Chairperson, Central Election Commission: “That's why I'm here to urge candidates to recommend election supervisors and not make things difficult for them so that they can strictly maintain neutrality and do their work.”

There will be 258 polling stations for the Taichung by-election. Taichung City Election Commission regulations stipulate that candidates can each send 104 people to polling stations to supervise the voting. That means that there will be 154 polling stations where they can't send people, leading to concerns about black box operations.

 

12月18日公投落幕，中選會今（27）日上午到立法院內政委員會進行相關業務報告，對於四大公投的投票率僅僅41%，而公投綁大選一案也被否決，但立法院最近召開修憲委員會，有民進黨立委提議修憲複決公投案應該與大選合併舉行，引發國民黨強烈質疑。

國民黨立委林為洲認為:「不管要複決要公投，或是一般的選罷法選舉，都是希望公民參與，越多公民參與越有代表性。」

李進勇回應表示:「因為憲法修改是高度政治性的東西，所以我們法律規定不足，所以要不要補漏，因此最好是公投法裡能夠有詳細的程序上規定，在沒有規定之前，只能照現有的增修條文以及立法院決議（來辦理）。」

林為洲呼籲執政黨對公投的態度要一致，李進勇則重申，對於憲法複決，目前公投法沒有明確的程序規定，民進黨立委則是全力護航，指稱這次公投投票因為沒有綁大選，秩序良好，也順利完成開票，反而憂心即將在明年1月舉行的台中市第二選區立委補選開票秩序。

民進黨立委王美惠指出:「國民黨認為中央的選務人員在搞怪，民進黨認為是地方的選務人員在搞怪，是怎麼樣都會有這種聲音出來？」

李進勇表示:「所以我在這裡呼籲政黨候選人推薦監票員出來，且不要為難他們，讓他們可以嚴守中立，執行任務。」

台中第二選區有258個投開票所，依據台中選委會規定，各候選人可派104人到投票所監票，但是另外154個投開票所無法派人監票，恐怕會有黑箱作業的疑慮，再度掀起藍綠攻防，中二選區戰況激烈，每個投開票細節都不能輕忽。