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6% of military personnel unable to return home to vote

ROC Central News Agency

2011/12/20 17:15:15

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) Around 13,000 military personnel will not be able to return to their household registration residences to cast their ballots in the Jan. 14 national elections because they will be unable to leave their posts, Ministry of National Defense spokesman David Lo said Tuesday.

The number represents 6 percent of the country's military forces, Lo said. Most of the troops will have sufficient time to get home to vote in the presidential and legislative elections.

In addition, the military has outlined a plan of personnel rotation for the elections, Lo added, noting that the rotation will take place at noon on polling day to allow as many essential personnel as possible who are posted close to their homes to cast their votes.

According to the ministry, in the presidential election of 2004, around 57,000 personnel, or 17.8 percent of the military forces, were ordered to stay at their posts and were therefore not able to vote.

The number of military personnel absent for the presidential election of 2008 was reduced to some 10,500, or about 5 percent, because of a government policy that required the "maximum number of voters,"the ministry said. (By Chen Pei-huang and Elizabeth Hsu) ENDITEM/J