Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of China provides, “The election of the President and the Vice President shall be prescribed by law.”　The legislature, in enacting applicable laws to regulate the procedure for the election of the President and the Vice President based on the aforesaid article, should follow the principles of fairness and reasonableness.　Paragraphs II and IV of Article 23 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act stipulate that those applying to register for the candidacy for President and Vice President by method of joint endorsements shall, within the statutorily prescribed period of time, garner at least 1.5 percent of the total number of electors in the most recent election of centrally elected representatives, which is not only intended to signify the reasonable degree of political support for the candidate opting for the joint-endorsement system as equitably comparable to the requirement for a candidate recommended by a political party, but also to prevent the people from needlessly participating in presidential and vice presidential elections, thus wasting social resources.　Hence it is not to be regarded as an unnecessary restriction on the right to be elected as president or vice president, nor is it in violation of the right of equality as stipulated by the Constitution.　Furthermore, under Paragraph I of the aforesaid article the candidate seeking joint endorsements is required to make a security deposit in the amount of NT$1,000,000 so as to assure that the number of joint endorsements indeed reaches one half of the population stipulated in Paragraph IV of said article.　Thus it does not the scope of legislative discretion, nor does it violate Article 23 of the Constitution.　The Regulation on the Joint Endorsements and the Verification Thereof for the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election was established by the competent agency under the authority delegated by Article 23-IX of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act.　The purpose and scope of the authorities thereof are clearly defined.　The provisions of Article 2-III of said Regulation, which require that the Central Election Committee should reject an application where the documentation is incomplete or inconsistent with the applicable requirements, or the security deposit is insufficient, are in line with the intent of legal authorization and thus do not violate the Constitution.　Nevertheless, in respect of the requirements for the exercise of the aforesaid right to be elected, review and improvement should, of course, be conducted in due time as social conditions and political environments change, so as to conform to the constitutional intent to safeguard the people's suffrage.

　　　 Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of China provides, “The election of the President and the Vice President shall be prescribed by law.”　With respect to the procedure for the election of the President and the Vice President, the legislature may certainly enact laws to regulate such procedure in a fair and reasonable manner.　So long as the contents of the legal norms do not exceed the necessary limits, there should be no violation of the suffrage as guaranteed under Article 17 of the Constitution, as well as the right to be elected as president and vice president provided in Article 45 thereof.　Article 23-I of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act provides, “A person who applies to register for the candidacy for President or Vice President by method of joint endorsements shall apply to the Central Election Commission within five days after the proclamation of the election, obtain joint-endorsement register forms and make a security deposit in the amount of NT$1,000,000.”　Paragraph II thereof reads, “Upon receiving such application referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Central Election Commission shall, within a fixed period of time, proclaim the applicant to be a candidate for a joint-endorsement campaign, and shall request the municipal and county (city) election commissions in writing to accept joint-endorsement forms submitted by the candidate for the joint-endorsement campaign or his or her agent within forty-five days beginning as of the day following the day when the proclamation is issued.”　And, Paragraph IV thereof further provides, “If, within the period of time referred to in Paragraph II hereof, the number of joint endorsements reaches at least 1.5 percent of the total number of electors in the most recent election of centrally elected representatives, the Central Election Commission shall, within a fixed period of time, proclaim the completion of the joint-endorsement campaign and issue a certificate of completion to the candidate for the joint-endorsement campaign, and shall also refund the security deposit.”　The foregoing provisions require that a candidate for the joint-endorsement campaign garner at least 1.5 percent of the total number of electors in the most recent election of centrally elected representatives within forty-five days beginning as of the day following the day when the Central Election Commission proclaims the candidates for the joint-endorsement campaigns, which means that the statutory number of joint endorsements for the 9th Presidential and Vice Presidential Election was 201,318.　The first part of Article 23-VIII of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act provides, “Upon receiving the joint-endorsement documents referred to in the preceding paragraph, the municipal or county (city) election commissions shall inspect the endorsements by random samples and, upon completion of the random inspection, the results of the reception and of the random inspection shall be reported to the Central Election Commission.”　Judging from the random inspections made during the 9th Presidential and Vice Presidential Election, the aggregate number of joint-endorsement documents submitted by various teams of presidential and vice presidential candidates amounted to 1,052,590, which were verified item by item through various municipal or county (city) election commissions and the Central Election Commission by both manpower and computers (See Official Reply of the Central Election Commission, Directive Ref. No. CSY-(86)-72040, June 26, 1997).　In light of the above, the adoption of the joint-endorsement system, which signifies a reasonable degree of political support for the candidate opting for the system, serves not only to equitably balance against the requirement for a candidate recommended by a political party as provided in Article 22 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act, but also to prevent the people from needlessly participating in presidential and vice presidential elections, thus wasting social resources.　Hence it is not to be regarded as an unnecessary restriction on the right to be elected as president or vice president, nor is it in violation of the right of equality as stipulated by the Constitution.　Furthermore, Article 23-V of said Act provides, “If the number of joint endorsements does not reach one half of the number required under the preceding paragraph within the prescribed period of time, the security deposit will not be refunded.”　Thus it is clear that the lodgment of the NT$1,000,000 security deposit is designed to ensure that the number of joint endorsements reaches one half of the number provided in Paragraph IV of said article, and that the security deposit will be refunded once the number is reached.　Since it neither compels the candidates to bear undue burdens of excessive amount of campaign costs, nor imposes inadequate restrictions on a person’s right to be elected as president or vice president, the determination of the amount of the security deposit does not exceed the scope of legislative discretion, and thus does not violate the Constitution.　The Regulation on the Joint Endorsements and the Verification Thereof for the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election was established by the competent agency under the authority delegated by Article 23-IX of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act.　The purpose and scope of the authorities thereof are clearly defined.　Those applying to register for the candidacy for President and Vice President by method of joint endorsements shall, within the statutorily prescribed period of time, submit the register of joint endorsements, affidavits and photocopies of the joint signatories’ identity cards to which their seals are affixed, and lodge the security deposit for the purpose of joint endorsements.　If the number of joint endorsements does not reach one half of the statutorily required number within the prescribed period of time, the security deposit will not be refunded, which is unambiguously provided in Article 23 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act.　The provisions of Article 2-III of the aforesaid Regulation, which require that the Central Election Committee should reject an application where the documentation is incomplete or inconsistent with the applicable requirements, or the security deposit is insufficient, are in line with the intent of legal authorization and thus do not violate the Constitution.　Nevertheless, in respect of the requirements for the exercise of the aforesaid right to be elected, review and improvement should, of course, be conducted in due time as social conditions and political environments change, so as to conform to the constitutional intent to safeguard the people's suffrage.