Taiwan's Central Election Commission approved only one of three referendum questions pushed by the opposition KMT and TPP, a setback for the two parties heading into November elections.

• Only the proposal to scrap Taiwan's nuclear-free policy cleared; questions on caning as criminal punishment and on earmarking traffic fines were rejected.
• The KMT caucus called it an outright seizure of democracy, accusing the commission of deciding for the public which questions deserve a vote.
• The fight is over whether an administrative body can substantively screen referendum proposals that the legislature has already passed — a dispute the commission triggered once before by rejecting an earlier caning referendum.
• The KMT wants harsher penalties debated openly, pointing to violent crime, sexual assault, child abuse and fraud cases as issues the public has a right to weigh in on.
• The party says voters will answer at the ballot box instead, in the November 2026 elections and again in 2028.

Outlook: The nuclear-free repeal question goes to a public vote while the blocked proposals fuel an escalating fight over the commission's authority ahead of the year-end elections.