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Taiwan¡¦s youth urged
to vote
SACRED VOW: Participants in a mock wedding vowed
to vote out of patriotic love. It was staged by a group trying to increase the
low turnout rate among young voters
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
First Time Voters ¡X a group comprised of university and graduate students
concerned about political and social issues ¡X called on their fellow students to
return home and cast their ballots on Saturday by staging a mock wedding
yesterday.
To the music of Felix Mendelsohn¡¦s Wedding March, a ¡§bride¡¨ and ¡§groom¡¨ walked
slowly toward a ¡§priest,¡¨ who asked the couple: ¡§Will you cast your sacred
ballots for the country that you love?¡¨
Both answered with a firm ¡§yes.¡¨
The ¡§groom¡¨ was Hsu Yen-ming (³\¿P»Ê), a senior at National Central University, and
the ¡§bride¡¨ was Hsu Yi-ting (®}·N´@), a junior at the university.
¡§We¡¦ve chosen to hold a mock wedding because we think that choosing the ideal
candidate and casting a vote is just like choosing an ideal spouse and getting
married,¡¨ said Hsu Chiao-hsin (®}¥©ªä), the spokeswoman for the event and a senior
majoring in political science at National Chengchi University. ¡§No matter
whether you support the pan-blue camp, the pan-green camp or the orange camp, if
you love this country, you should vote.¡¨
The ¡§orange camp¡¨ refers to the People First Party.
¡§Voter turnout for young voters has been low in the past. It was only about 50
percent in the 2008 presidential election, and could be lower this time because
the elections take place during the final exam week for most college students,
and because the Lunar New Year holiday is only a week after the elections,¡¨ said
Chen Yi-chi (³¯¤A´Ñ), chairperson of The First Time Voters and a political science
major at National Taiwan University.
¡§According to our own survey, at least 17 percent of first-time -voters said
they would not vote this time,¡¨ Chen said.
However, as young Taiwanese face many challenges, such as growing unemployment,
declining wages and soaring housing prices, ¡§if we don¡¦t speak out now,
politicians will continue to overlook our needs,¡¨ Chen said.
A native of Pingtung County, Chen said he would definitely go home to vote, even
though he was preparing for entrance exams for graduate school, and it would
take him eight hours to travel back and forth.
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