TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) has proposed amending Taiwan's presidential election laws to implement a two-round system, replacing the current first-past-the-post system based on relative majority.

Under the current system, a candidate can win the presidency by securing the most votes without a runoff requirement. For example, in the recent January election, Lai Ching-te (賴清德) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DDP) won with 40.05% of the vote.

Weng's proposal aims to ensure that the winning candidate must receive at least 20% of the support of eligible voters and 50% of the total votes. If no candidate meets these thresholds, a second round of voting will be held two weeks later, per NOWnews.

For the 2024 election, this would mean a candidate must garner 3.9 million votes (20% of the registered 19.55 million voters) and 7.02 million votes (50% of the more than 14 million voters who turned out) to win. If these thresholds are not met, a runoff would be necessary.

Weng argues that a president without a majority of the mandate lacks representation, and adopting this proposal would enhance democratic legitimacy. This aligns Taiwan's electoral system with those of Western countries.

Implementing this change would require amendments to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法).