CEC to appeal prison vote ruling

RULE DIFFICULTIES: An official said there were security issues to consider, including that voting inmates would have to be alone in a booth that guards cannot enter

• By Jason Pan / Staff reporter

The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday said that it would appeal a court decision to allow inmates to vote, citing security concerns and a lack of legal precedent.

The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled that a voting station should be set up inside Taipei Prison in Taoyuan’s Gueishan District (龜山) so inmates could vote in January’s presidential and legislative elections.

An inmate surnamed Lin (林) had filed the lawsuit, with guidance from inmate rights group Prison Watch, arguing that he has a right to vote that cannot be revoked, despite being incarcerated.

Lin had asked that a voting booth be set up at the prison, as he was unable to leave.

The court said that special voting booths are not a subject with legal standing, overriding the CEC’s argument that there were no regulations or precedent to set up a polling booth in a prison.

The lack of precedent was an insufficient reason to deny voting rights, it said.

CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) and Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) yesterday presented separate reports at the legislature in Taipei.

The CEC would file an appeal over security concerns, Lee told reporters, adding that an inmate must be alone when marking a ballot inside a curtained booth that guards cannot enter.

In principle, an inmate would have their restraints removed, as people are not permitted to take devices, weapons or other dangerous items into voting booths, he said.

The other main issue is that Taiwan has no process for absentee voting, so there is no precedent to set up a voting station inside a prison, he said.

“Taiwan does not have absentee voting, mail-in ballots, voting via proxy or electronic voting as other countries do,” Lee said.

People must vote at stations according to their household registration, he said.

“To protect inmates’ voting rights, changes must be made to the legal framework to establish absentee voting or other means of casting ballots outside residency,” Lee said. “That would be the right way to do it.”

Tsai said the case is still pending, as the CEC would file an appeal.

A new ruling would have to be made before any action by the Agency of Corrections, which administers the nation’s incarceration facilities, Tsai added.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) asked the CEC and the ministry not to appeal the ruling.

The law should be amended to specify “absentee voting for inmates” to guarantee their right to vote, Lin said.

Additional reporting by CNA