Taiwan's opposition KMT and TPP are moving to pass a change to referendum voting rules this Friday, and the election commission says it will be a disaster.

• The change would put several referendum questions on a single ballot paper instead of separate ones.
• Election commission chief You Ying-lung says the claimed benefits are imaginary while the problems are real, and is begging lawmakers to hold off.
• The bill skipped committee debate entirely — it was sent straight to a second reading a day after a July hearing, over two objections from the ruling DPP.
• Backers point to the US as a model; the commission counters that the US built that system over four decades, with scanners, electronic counting, manual recounts, and trained staff behind it.
• The timing is the sore point: local elections are less than 100 days away.

Outlook: The measure could clear its final reading Friday, leaving election officials scrambling to run the November local vote under untested rules.