Talks Collapse on Amending Referendum Law for Multiple Cases on One Ballot; CEC Urges Delay

Aug 19, 2026

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan is pushing an amendment that would print multiple referendum cases on a single ballot. Election authorities are firmly opposed, and the change could cause confusion in November's local elections.

  • The Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party have proposed merging the various referendum cases onto one ballot, arguing that this would speed up voting and reduce queues.
  • Central Election Commission Chairman Yu Ying-lung opposes the plan, warning that invalid ballots would increase substantially and that election administrators would not have enough time to prepare.
  • The US approach cannot simply be copied, because the entire system of counting ballots, monitoring the count, and issuing ballots is different.
  • The Democratic Progressive Party has criticised the amendment as too rushed, noting that only about 100 days remain before the nine-in-one elections and that just a few weeks of preparation time would be left after the bill passes.
  • Local election commissions have widely voiced concern that, without simultaneous amendments to the related provisions, the election may simply be impossible to administer.

Outlook: The talks ended without consensus, and Legislative Yuan Speaker Han Kuo-yu will now convene further negotiations. Whether the amendment can take effect before the elections remains undecided.

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