In response to the recall movements happening across Taiwan, the Ministry of the Interior and the Central Election Commission jointly convened a meeting named “Coordination Meeting on the Proposal and Verification of Recall Cases for Public Officials” with the Council of Indigenous Peoples, local civil affairs bureaus, and local election commissions. They reiterated the importance of public servants maintaining administrative neutrality to avoid breaking the law.
The Central Election Commission of the Republic of China (Taiwan) stated that as of 5 p.m. on the 17th, they had received a total of 55 recall cases, with 52 cases being recalls of legislators, some of which were resubmissions or targeting the same individual. Additionally, there was one case for the recall of a mayor of a special municipality or county, and two cases for the recall of councilors in special municipalities or counties.
The Central Election Commission of Taiwan explained that when electoral authorities reject a recall case after the initial review or verification process in accordance with the law, if the case is resubmitted, it is counted as a “+1” submission. Regarding recall cases targeting the same public official, if one case has been legally established – meaning it has passed the second-stage verification process and will proceed to a recall vote – ongoing recall cases against the same official will be suspended.
On the 17th, the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of China issued a press release stating that recall movements have been launched in various communities. The procedures for the proposal and verification of recall cases involving public officials clearly assign responsibilities to various levels of election commissions and household registration agencies. The correctness of information regarding whether the proposer or signatories are registered voters in the electoral district is verified by local election commissions contacting household registration agencies based on household registration data.
The Ministry of the Interior of Taiwan pointed out that matters such as whether proposers and signatories have been replaced by others for signing or stamping, or other acts of forgery, are handled by designated personnel of the organizing election commission, not by staff of household registration agencies. If there are suspected cases of forgery in the register, the election commission will send inquiry forms to the parties concerned for verification, not through phone inquiries, let alone in-person visits or other means.
The Ministry of the Interior of Taiwan explained that to ensure the consistency of the proposal and verification processes for all recall cases and to prevent unnecessary disputes due to different practices in municipalities and counties, public servants handling recall case proposals and verifications must strictly adhere to administrative neutrality. They must securely store the lists of proposers and signatories, refrain from taking them outside, to avoid violating other criminal laws. The organizing election commission is urged to provide training for verification personnel before conducting verification operations to ensure smooth completion of registry verification work.
Lastly, the Ministry of the Interior of Taiwan emphasized that according to Article 45 of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, members, supervisors, personnel, and election affairs personnel of the township (town, city, district) offices of various levels of election commissions should not engage in promotion or opposition activities for recall cases upon receiving a recall proposal. Violators will be subject to a fine of over NT$100,000 and up to NT$1 million according to Article 110 of the law. All colleagues in local governments and election commissions are urged to remind public servants to be mindful of their actions to avoid violating the law and facing penalties.