Taiwanese referendum, 2018

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A multi-question referendum will be held in Taiwan on 24 November 2018 alongside local elections. The referendum will be the first since the December 2017 reform to the Referendum Act which reduced the barrier to submitting questions to the ballot; under the new system, signatures from 1.5 percent of the electorate (around 280,000 people) are required to successfully put a question on the ballot.[1]

Background[edit]

In all, ten questions appear on the ballot.[2] Five of the questions reviewed and approved by the Central Election Commission (CEC) relate to LGBT rights, LGBT sex education and same-sex marriage. Four other questions on the ballot regard international games representation, nuclear power, coal power and a ban on imports of agricultural products and food from areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.[3][4][5] The tenth question asks voters to reject Article 95-1 of the Electricity Act, which stipulates that all of the nation’s nuclear power generating facilities should be decommissioned by 2025.[6] This question had originally been rejected by the CEC, though the commission reversed its decision after being ordered by the Taipei High Administrative Court to accept an additional 24,000 signatures added to the petition.[6]

For a referendum to pass, 25 percent of the eligible voters must vote in favour of the question.[7][8]

Same-sex marriage proposals[edit]

In February 2018, a Taiwanese Christian right group opposed to same-sex marriage (the Alliance for Next Generation's Happiness) proposed holding a referendum on the issue, aiming to overturn a May 2017 ruling by the Constitutional Court that mandated the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Taiwan within two years. Under Taiwanese law, for their initiative to be presented to the voters, a total of 280,000 signatures (1.5% of eligible voters) are required for a question to be considered by the CEC.[9] The Central Election Commission reviewed and accepted the group's proposals in April 2018.[10][11] Two of their approved questions are related to same-sex marriage; one on whether marriage should be limited to a bond between a man and a woman and one on whether there should be a special law to protect same-sex couples' right to a "permanent union" (effectively introducing civil unions). A third question will ask voters whether to prevent the implementation of laws mandating the inclusion of information about homosexuality in sexual education classes at schools.[12][13]

In September 2018, a group in favour of same-sex marriage announced that it had collected enough signatures to submit its own questions to a referendum. The group’s questions requires the legislature to amend the Civil Code to expressly allow same-sex couples to marry and also mandates the inclusion of sexual diversity in sexual education.[14]

CEC-approved questions[edit]

The ten questions to appear on the ballot are (with original Chinese language in parenthesis):[15]

  • (National Referendum 7th case) "Do you agree the electricity output of thermal power plants should be lowered by "at least 1 percent per year on average?'" (你是否同意以「平均每年至少降低1%」之方式逐年降低火力發電廠發電量?) [16]
  • (National Referendum 8th case) "Do you agree that Taiwan should establish an energy policy that undertakes not to construct any new coal-fired power plants or generators or expand existing facilities (including the expansion of the Shen'ao Power Plant)?" (您是否同意確立「停止新建、擴建任何燃煤發電廠或發電機組(包括深澳電廠擴建)」之能源政策?) [16]
  • (National Referendum 9th case) "Do you agree the government should maintain the ban on imports of agricultural products and food from areas in Japan affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster on March 11, 2011, including Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi and Chiba prefectures?" (你是否同意政府維持禁止開放日本福島311核災相關地區,包括福島與周遭4縣市(茨城、櫪木、群馬、千葉)等地區農產品及食品進口?) [16]
  • (National Referendum 10th case) Do you agree that Civil Code regulations should restrict marriage to being between a man and a woman?" (你是否同意民法婚姻規定應限定在一男一女的結合?) [16]
  • (National Referendum 11th case) "Do you agree that the Ministry of Education and individual schools should not teach homosexual-related education, as detailed under the Enforcement Rules for the Gender Equity Education Act, in elementary and middle level schools?" (你是否同意在國民教育階段內(國中及國小),教育部及各級學校不應對學生實施性別平等教育法施行細則所定之同志教育?) [16]
  • (National Referendum 12th case) "Do you agree to types of unions, other than those stated in the marriage regulations in the Civil Code, to protect the rights of same-sex couples who live together permanently?" (你是否同意以民法婚姻規定以外之其他形式來保障同性別二人經營永久共同生活的權益?) [16]
  • (National Referendum 13th case) "Do you agree that Taiwan should apply to participate in all international sporting events, including the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, using the name 'Taiwan?'" (你是否同意,以「台灣」(Taiwan)為全名申請參加所有國際運動賽事及2020年東京奧運?) [16]
  • (National Referendum 14th case) "Do you agree that the Civil Code marriage regulations should be used to guarantee the rights of same sex couples to get married?" (您是否同意,以民法婚姻章保障同性別二人建立婚姻關係?) [17]
  • (National Referendum 15th case) "Do you agree that gender equity education as defined in 'the Gender Equity Education Act' should be taught at all stages of the national curriculum and that such education should cover courses on emotional education, sex education and gay and lesbian education?" (您是否同意,以「性別平等教育法」明定在國民教育各階段內實施性別平等教育,且內容應涵蓋情感教育、性教育、同志教育等課程?) [16]
  • (National Referendum 16th case) "Do you agree to abolish Section 1 of Article 95 of the Electricity Act, which states that 'all nuclear energy based power-generating facilities shall cease operations by 2025'?" (您是否同意:廢除電業法第95條第1項,即廢除「核能發電設備應於中華民國一百十四年以前,全部停止運轉」之條文?) [17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Taiwan to hold 7 referendums during Nov. local elections". Taiwan News. 10 October 2018.
  2. ^ "ELECTIONS: CEC raises incentives for poll monitors, volunteers". Taipei Times. 25 October 2018. The commission also released a list of the 10 referendums that are to be included in this year’s vote: three by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — two on air pollution and one on banning food products from Fukushima Prefecture; three by the Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance against same-sex marriage and education; two by LGBT support groups on supporting same-sex marriage and education; one on having Taiwan participate in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games under the name of Taiwan and not Chinese Taipei; and one on scrapping the “2025 nuclear-free homeland” target.
  3. ^ "CEC approves 7 referendums alongside local elections". Focus Taiwan. 9 October 2018.
  4. ^ "CEC approves 2 more referendum proposals, making 9 in total". Focus Taiwan. 16 October 2018.
  5. ^ "Momentum Builds For Nuclear Power With Referendum Approved In Taiwan And "Pride Fest" in Germany". Forbes. 24 October 2018.
  6. ^ a b "CEC passes referendum on nuclear-free homeland". Taipei Times. 24 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Referendum Act amendments approved". Taipei Times. 13 December 2017.
  8. ^ "Art. 29 of the Referendum Act". Laws & Regulations Database of the Republic of China.
  9. ^ "Group proposes referendum for special law for same-sex couples". Focus Taiwan News Channel. 9 February 2018.
  10. ^ "CEC passes review of same-sex marriage referendum proposals". Focus Taiwan. 18 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Referendum Against Gay Marriage Reaches Necessary Threshold". newbloommag.net. 18 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Taiwan to hold same-sex marriage referendum". News Hub. 9 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Taiwan to hold public vote on special law for same-sex marriage". Channel News Asia. 9 October 2018.
  14. ^ "With 9,000 signatures per day, Taiwan petition for marriage equality passes referendum threshold". Taiwan News. 1 September 2018.
  15. ^ "中選會發布全國性公民投票案第7案至第拾陸案投票公告". Central Election Commission (in Chinese). 24 October 2018.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h Liu Lee-jung; Elizabeth Hsu. "CEC approves 7 referendums alongside local elections". Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  17. ^ a b Claudia Liu; Elizabeth Hsu. "CEC approves 2 more referendum proposals, making 9 in total". Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.

External links[edit]

The website for Equal Love Taiwan (Campaigning on questions related to marriage for same-sex couples and LGBT people in Taiwan)