The Central Election Commission (CEC) on Thursday unveiled posters with information on the upcoming nine-in-one elections and a referendum on a proposed constitutional amendment scheduled for Nov. 26 in the native languages of Taiwan’s 16 indigenous peoples.
The posters are aimed at allowing a wide variety of groups to quickly obtain information on the elections and referendum on lowering the legal voting age from 20 to 18 and seeks to encourage civil participation among members of these groups, the CEC said.
The posters remind members of the indigenous groups to bring their National ID cards, personal seals and voting notification to polling stations, it said.
The Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) has endeavored to promote indigenous languages and cultivate indigenous language teachers in recent years, and the CEC hopes to show support for the CIP’s policy with the posters, it said, adding that the hope is the posters will boost voter turnout among indigenous peoples.
The writing systems for indigenous languages in Taiwan are relatively new and based on the romanized text of the Holy Bible used by foreign missionaries and rent deeds between indigenous groups and the Dutch dating to Dutch rule of Taiwan in the 17th century.
The systems were established based on conclusions reached during discussions and public hearings held by the CIP and the education ministry from 2003 to 2005, and were jointly announced by the two agencies in November 2005.
The move is consistent with similar efforts by the agency to produce videos about voting in the election voiced in English, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Cambodian, and Filipino to cater to Taiwan’s six major groups of new immigrants.
According to CIP data, Taiwan’s indigenous population totaled about 580,000 as of September, with the 16 indigenous groups being Amis, Ayayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Pinuyumayan (Puyuma), Rukai, Tsou, Saisiyat, Yami (Tao), Thao, Kavalan, Truku, Sakilaya, Sediq, Hla’alua and Kanakanavu.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel