Referendum, 26 recall votes could cost up to NT$1.62 billion: CEC

Taipei, July 10 (CNA) Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Kuomintang (KMT) legislators could cost around NT$1.62 billion (US$55.41 million) in total, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said Thursday.

The cost of each legislator recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million and that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, the 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators, along with a national referendum on restarting Maanshan nuclear power plant could cost as much as NT$1.62 billion in total, according to the CEC.

The CEC previously announced that recall motions against 24 KMT lawmakers have been approved, with voting scheduled on July 26.

The lawmakers include KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) and lawmakers from Taipei, Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯), Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀), Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) and Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), as well as others across Taiwan.

Among the 24 lawmakers are Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷), Lin Te-fu (林德福), Chang Chih-lun (張智倫), Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之) and Liao Hsien-hsiang (廖先翔) from New Taipei.

The others are Huang Chien-pin (黃建賓), Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐), Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥), Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲), Lu Ming-che (魯明哲), Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭), Tu Chuan-chi (涂權吉), Liao Wei-hsiang (廖偉翔), Huang Chien-hao (黃健豪), Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋), Ting Hsueh-chung (丁學忠), Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲) and Chiu Jo-hua (邱若華).

In addition, recall votes against two KMT lawmakers from Nantou County, Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and Yu Hao (游顥), have also been approved, with the vote set for Aug. 23 due to the limited administrative capacity of Nantou County Election Commission and the timeline required for recall procedures.

The referendum on restarting the nuclear power plant is also scheduled for Aug. 23, according to the CEC.

In terms of other recall cases, the recall vote against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Nantou County Councilor Chen Yu-ling (陳玉鈴) will take place on July 13, while the recall vote for the currently-suspended Hsinchu City Mayor Kao Hung-an (高虹安) is also set for July 26.

The CEC noted that by law the cost of recall elections for county/city mayors and councilors, is covered by local governments.