As presidential candidates increase their efforts to canvass support from first-time voters, lawmakers from across party lines are mulling whether to amend the law to lower the legal voting age to 18 years.
However, some academics cast doubt on the idea, saying that lowering the legal voting age would require a constitutional amendment.
According to Article 130 of the Constitution, citizens of the Republic of China (ROC) have the right to vote when they are 20 years old and “unless otherwise stipulated in the Constitution or in other laws, citizens of the ROC have the right to be voted for when they are legally 23 years old.”
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the New Party tried to lower the legal voting age when earlier amendments were made to the Constitution. Those moves were blocked by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
In an effort to lower the legal voting age, DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) concluded a petition to amend the Constitution and handed it to the Constitutional Amendment Committee on May 13.
Currently, an amendment to the Constitution not only requires that it be proposed by at least a quarter of all legislators, that at least three-quarters of all legislators vote and that the vote be passed by three-quarters of voting legislators, it also needs to be ratified by a referendum with over 50 percent of voters voting in favor.
Full Article: Legislators mull lowering voting age – Taipei Times.