Electoral reform urged to support small parties

Electoral reform urged to support small parties

2024-01-15

In this past election, a minor party ran for the first time and placed fifth in the party-list vote. This was the Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party, which advocates for children’s rights, labor rights, and environmental protection. Despite winning nearly 130,000 votes, it fell short of the threshold needed to secure a legislative seat. It also failed to meet the threshold for getting government subsidies. On Monday, the party thanked its supporters in a press event. But it criticized the election system for being unfriendly to small parties.

Women chant slogans with children in tow. They’re members of the Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party, which ranked fifth in the 2024 party-list election, after the KMT, DPP, TPP, and New Power Party.

Lin Shih-han
Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party
Under the current rules, election deposits are returned based on the share of votes received. So that makes smaller parties poorer and poorer with each election. Last year, the Ministry of the Interior proposed an amendment to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, aiming to adjust the threshold for deposit returns so that it’s based on the total number of votes, rather than the vote share. But the amendment was blocked by KMT and DPP lawmakers. We want smaller deposits that don’t deter smaller parties from participating in politics. We also want to adjust the threshold for deposit returns and how the refunds are calculated.

The party says current rules discourage political participation. In the party-list election, a party needs at least 5% of the votes cast to secure party-list seats. It needs at least 3% of the vote to qualify for an annual government subsidy of NT$50 per vote – a lifeline for small political parties. In this past election, only the DPP, KMT and TPP met the 3% threshold, entitling them to more than NT$100 million in subsidies a year. The New Power Party fell short with 350,000 votes, or 2.5% of the total. The Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party came in fifth with 0.97%, which meant that donations from supporters were not tax-deductible.

Shen Pei-ling
Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party
Before the electoral system is reformed, please support the Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party with monthly donations. That way we can continue to produce good policy proposals, run creative political campaigns, and engage in dialogue with society.

Hsu Ying-tsz
Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party
During campaigning, I spoke about how tough it is for a small party. I didn’t put the focus on me personally. And then it turned out we won more than 10,000 votes, so I was a bit surprised. We will continue moving forward. We have another candidate running for city councilor in Zhongli. The two of us will continue to work on issues important to Zhongli.

In order to submit a party list, the Taiwan Obasan Political Equality Party fielded 10 candidates for district seats, and several of them won more than 10,000 votes. The party says it’s the world’s only all-women grassroots party. It’s seeking continued support, so that it can bring greater diversity to Taiwan politics.

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"小歐盟"提10席區域立委部分候選人得票破萬成亮點

2024-01-15

2024大選，新興小黨"小民參政歐巴桑聯盟"首度參選，政黨票就斬獲12萬8千票，榮登第五大黨，但這屆只有藍綠白三大黨可以拿不分區席次及政黨補助款，甚至連第四名的時代力量都面臨斷炊。歐巴桑聯盟認為選舉制度對小黨不友善，自嘲越選越窮，也向投給他們的12萬支持者喊話，每月定期捐款，支持他們衝擊2028。

婆婆媽媽們一起喊口號，其中不乏小朋友身影，他們是新興政黨歐巴桑聯盟的成員，2024選戰，他們的政黨票僅次藍綠白及時代力量，自嘲是越選越窮的第五大黨。

[[小民參政歐巴桑聯盟代理黨召集人林詩涵]]
“目前的選舉制度還是用保證金、選舉人數來計算取回保證金的制度，都會讓小黨越來越窮，每選一次就窮一次，去年內政部曾經提出選罷法修法，希望調整保證金領回門檻，從選舉人數改為投票人數。但這樣修法的法案，被國民黨、民進黨的立法委員聯手阻擋。希望能下修選舉保證金額，不要每次都用高額保證金阻擋小民參政決心，以及希望能修改保證金取回門檻，和計算基準”

痛批選舉門檻不利公民參政，以政黨票為例，得票率要5%才能分配不分區立委席次、3%能有每年每票50元的政黨補助款，是小黨生存的命脈，但這次只有藍綠白三黨得票超過3%，每年可領上億元，時代力量獲得35萬多票，僅有2.5%，歐巴桑聯盟雖列第五，但得票僅0.97%，支持者的政治獻金甚至不能抵稅。

[[小民參政歐巴桑聯盟2024選舉總籌沈佩玲]]
“選制被改變之前，先用每個月定捐支持小歐盟，讓我們可以繼續提出好的政見，開展不一樣的、創意的選舉，以及跟公民社會的對話方式”

[[小民參政歐巴桑聯盟中壢立委參選人徐鶯慈]]
“(競選的時候)跟民眾推廣的比較是，小黨參選的辛苦，我自己的部分，反而比較沒有著墨我個人。這次選舉很意外可以獲得一萬多票，我自己也有點驚訝，也會繼續，因為我們中壢市議員也有另一個候選人，我們2個人也會繼續耕耘中壢的議題”

為了提不分區名單，歐巴桑聯盟全台提名10席區域立委，其中幾位候選人得票破萬，成為選戰亮點，他們也呼籲社會各界持續關心，讓全世界唯一一個全女性草根政黨能把更多元的政治觀點，帶進體制內。

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…based on our unofficial but warm relationship, our insistence on exclusively peaceful means to address the cross-strait issues, the importance of dialogue and the avoidance of unilateral efforts to change the status quo.

The delegation also visited the DPP headquarters to meet President-elect Lai Ching-te and Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim.

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This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

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