TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Central Election Commission Chair Li Chin-yung (李進勇) on Monday reiterated his opposition to holding referendums alongside elections, citing the logistical chaos and politicization of the 2018 vote as key concerns.
Li noted that the current system, which separates referendums from elections, was adopted in 2019 and has run smoothly, per CNA. He argued that coupling the two could overburden election staff, pointing to the 2018 local elections, when 10 referendum questions were voted on alongside city and county races, causing significant delays in counting.
He made the same case in 2024, saying that separating referendums not only improves administration but also allows for clearer expression of public will, per CNA. Li warned that simultaneous votes tend to become proxy battles between ruling and opposition parties, diminishing the value of referendum issues.
Since the Referendum Act was passed in 2003, only seven of 21 proposals have been approved — all in 2018, after the passage threshold was lowered but before referendums were decoupled from elections, per The News Lens. Since the 2019 amendment separating the two, none of the five proposals have passed, with neither the “yes” nor “no” side meeting the required 25% of the electorate.
Soochow University Law Professor Su Tzu-chiao (蘇子喬) said boosting turnout to pass referendums undermines their purpose, noting that most mature democracies hold them separately, per Liberty Times. National Chengchi University Associate Professor Lin Chia-ho (林佳和) added that Taiwan’s focus on national-level rather than local referendums is unusual internationally. He also criticized the short deliberation period for referendum questions.
National Sun Yat-sen University Professor Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) offered a counterpoint, suggesting that administrative improvements such as electronic ballots could reduce burdens, per Awakening News Network. He argued that voter decisions on referendums do not always follow party lines. Still, Lin noted that data from the 2021 referendum showed turnout largely reflected mobilization by the KMT and DPP, per The Reporter.
Former CEC Chair Chen In-chin (陳英鈐) said the 2018 chaos reflected Taiwan’s rigid electoral framework, per ETtoday, nothing that it was originally designed to prevent interference during Taiwan’s early democratic transition. He cited systemic issues including the requirement that half of all election officials be civil servants, strict voting and counting procedures, and inadequate funding. Many referendum proposals were submitted around October, giving authorities only weeks to prepare.
The New Power Party said in 2021 that it supported both coupling and decoupling referendums with elections, noting that the KMT and DPP have reversed positions depending on whether they were in power, per Z.Media.
