KMT, TPP Mull Referendums to Go With Taiwan’s Local Elections
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- KMT and TPP are placing six referendums on Taiwan's November "nine-in-one" local elections ballot, using their legislative majority to initiate them as chamber resolutions rather than the usual public signature collection drive.
- KMT's nuclear energy referendum calls for abolishing the nuclear-free homeland policy, though Taiwan's last reactor shut down in May 2025 and the Lai administration has already submitted plans to restart two reactors — a shift that could deflate the referendum's impact.
- KMT's capital punishment referendum revisits a popular issue in Taiwan, but a prior KMT attempt to hold such a referendum was thrown out by the Central Election Commission in 2025 because capital punishment remains on the books.
- KMT's caning referendum would introduce judicial caning for serious crimes including child abuse, sexual assault, and fraud; critics say it conflicts with human rights conventions Taiwan has ratified, and KMT chair Cheng Li-wun herself tried to remove it from the agenda before legislative pushback.
- TPP proposals include allocating traffic violation fines to local governments for road safety and transportation subsidies, and allowing absentee voting within Taiwan — but not from overseas, over long-standing fears that taishang (Taiwanese businessmen in China) could tilt elections.
- CEC chair Michael You publicly criticized the absentee voting proposal as potentially leading to chaos, with critics noting both the KMT and DPP have built party machines around the current registration system, which the newer TPP could disrupt.
Why it matters: By sidestepping signature collection, the KMT and TPP are testing whether a legislative majority alone can place referendums on the ballot — a procedural precedent that lowers the threshold for future opposition-driven ballot questions. The six measures touch nuclear policy, criminal punishment, euthanasia, traffic funding, and voting logistics, producing the kind of crowded ballot that in 2018 led to confusion and post-poll long lines.
