Inmate Voting Rights Project

Unless subject to a declaration of deprivation of civil rights, inmates in our nation's correctional facilities retain their right to political participation. For inmates deprived of civil rights, the Criminal Code restricts only "the qualification to serve as a public official" and "the qualification to run as a candidate for public office." Following legal amendments in. 2006, this no longer includes "the qualification to exercise the four political rights of election, recall, initiative, and referendum." In other words, no law restricts any inmate's right to vote, let alone detainees who have not yet been convicted.

However, the current Civil Servants Election and Recall Act and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act impose a "residential voting" restriction. Under these regulations, voting must take place at the polling station in the voter's registered household district. According to the current Directions for Household Registration Management of Inmates in Correctional Institutions, following amendments in 2014, inmates are no longer required to transfer their household registration to the correctional institution. This means that, in principle, inmates' household registrations remain at their own homes, and only in special circumstances, such as having no address to return to upon release, is the household registered at the correctional institution. When the voting notice is mailed back to the original household registration address, due to current "residential voting" regulations, inmates are practically unable to leave the facility to exercise their right to vote. After writing to the Central Election Commission (CEC) to inquire, the JRF also learned that even for those whose household is registered in the prison, the CEC believes that, based on social security and trust, this should be planned together with amendments regarding absentee voting, and inmates cannot simply be allowed to vote inside correctional facilities.

The JRF previously sent an official letter to the CEC in 2019 requesting the establishment of voting measures for inmates, which was rejected. Subsequently, during the 2020 Kaohsiung City mayoral recall election, the JRF also assisted two inmates in petitioning the CEC and the Kaohsiung City Election Commission to set up appropriate voting measures, but the requests were denied. The administrative remedies for these two inmates' cases were subsequently exhausted, and an application for constitutional interpretation was filed; however, the Grand Justices dismissed the petition in March 2021.

Regarding the merits of this case, the Supreme Administrative Court also dismissed the appeal recently, and the volunteer legal team is currently actively deliberating filing a new constitutional litigation.

Progress

• 2020-05-13 Requested the Kaohsiung City Election Commission to establish appropriate voting measures
• 2020-06-03 Applied to the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court for a provisional injunction
• 2020-06-08 Kaohsiung High Administrative Court dismissed the application
• 2020-06-16 Filed an interlocutory appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court
• 2020-07-14 Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the interlocutory appeal
• 2021-01-13 Submitted an application for constitutional interpretation to the Grand Justices
• 2021-03-30 Grand Justices dismissed the petition: 110-Yuan-Su-Zi-No. 21
• 2021-09-06 Kaohsiung High Administrative Court dismissed the case on the merits: 110-Kao-Hsing-Su-Zi-No. 1
• 2023-06-05 Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the appeal, finalizing the case: 110-Shang-Zi-No. 673