TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Legislators in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan's Internal Administration Committee (立法院內政委員會) on Monday (Dec. 16) approved a proposal to shorten the blackout period for publishing election polls from ten days to three days before an election. The decision, part of a broader review of electoral laws, aims to enhance transparency and public access to information.
The committee, led by Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), convened at 9 a.m. and concluded the review by 9:03 a.m. The approved amendments will proceed to party negotiations before being reported to the full Legislative Yuan. On Sunday night, Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) legislators blocked Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨) members from entering the Red Building's 202 conference room, leading to a scuffle Monday morning.
KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) proposed the change in the poll blackout period. Additionally, Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) introduced a proposal allowing a recount if the vote margin is within 0.1% of valid votes. Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party(DPP, 民進黨) legislator Yang Yao (楊曜) suggested a recount in the event of a tie, followed by a lottery if the tie persists.
Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) of the DPP proposed regulating campaign materials to prevent unauthorized use of party leaders' images or symbols by non-party candidates. The Taiwan People's Party (TPP, 台灣民眾黨) proposed not refunding deposits to elected candidates who withdraw during the election period to reduce election costs. These developments underscore Taiwan's ongoing efforts to refine its electoral processes, ensuring fairness and clarity in future elections.
