A recent poll found that 46% of Taiwanese favor lowering the voting age from 20 to 18 years old. The poll was taken by the NGO Forward Alliance this month.
The upcoming November 26 local elections will also include a referendum on changing the constitution to lower the voting age. Support for the move has grown in the last two months but is still under the 50% threshold needed to pass. Taiwan is the only major democracy in the world where 18 year olds can’t vote.
Forward Alliance Director Enoch Wu (吳怡農) says that over half of centrist voters are unaware of the upcoming voting age referendum and another 16% are undecided on the issue.
Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy President Chang Yu-meng ( 張育萌)
says many of Taiwan’s laws are unreasonable. For example, 18 year olds in Taiwan can get a driver's license but they can’t buy a car. He says Taiwan’s laws need to be amended to reflect the rights and responsibilities young people should have.
On March 25, the legislature approved lowering the voting age to 18, but the constitutional amendment needs to be submitted to a referendum. To pass, 9.65 million voters need to approve it.
News Source：RTI
Editor：Natalie Tso
Source: RTI
