The proposal has attracted criticism from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which voices doubts about the motivation for the government plan as well as fears over possible irregularities.

Jiang said that because legislative amendments were necessary, the plan might not pass in time for the year-end local elections. Voters are scheduled to select chief executives and councilors for Taipei City, newly upgraded Xinbei City, and the merged and upgraded Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan areas.

The introduction of absentee voting had only one political consideration, namely to expand the right of political participation and protect citizens’ right to vote, Jiang said in a televised interview.

Political party infighting and conspiracy theories had not been considered, the minister said. Jiang also denied he was the first Interior Minister to come up with a plan to introduce absentee voting.

The basic spirit was to allow voters who had no way of casting their ballot at their place of household registration on voting day to do so elsewhere, he said.

Jiang rejected methods in use in some other countries, such as voting in advance, by mail or allowing someone else to vote in one’s place. Each of these methods might cause problems or irregularities, he said.

Jiang also ruled out allowing overseas compatriots with double citizenship or Taiwanese business people in China to vote by mail. There were fears that ballots mailed in from China might be doctored, he said.

The minister said his plan would allow voters who were staying in another part of Taiwan to study or work to cast their ballot in that location, while allowing their vote to be included in the vote total for their home constituency.

He rejected fears from political party supporters that a local government from the other party would have the opportunity to doctor absentee ballots. After decades of democratic development in Taiwan, there was no need anymore to fear such practices, Jiang said.