TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — More than NT$900,000 (US$28,950) was raised by a youth advocacy group that helped 1,200 young Taiwanese to return home to vote on Saturday (Jan. 13).

Organized by the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy (TYAD), the “Ticket Back Home” project provided transport home for voters under 35 years old for just NT$113 per person. TYAD chartered transport for voters along 26 passenger routes, including two boat trips to outlying islands, and flights to Kinmen.

Voters in Taiwan must return to their place of household registration to cast their ballot, which TYAD director Wen Hsu (許靜玫) told Taiwan News can be too expensive for many young people. A high-speed rail ticket from Taipei, where Wen studies, to Kaohsiung, where she is from, costs about NT$1,500, compared to the NT$113 tickets TYAD offers.

When incomes for many young people are low, the financial burden of returning home in addition to lacking time may mean some choose not to vote, Wen said. Chairperson of the National Students’ Union of Taiwan Wen Hsin-yi agreed and said that when hurdles to voting cause low youth turn out, politicians may ignore issues that are important to youth.

Weng said that the “Ticket Back Home” program means more young people will be able to exercise their political rights without worrying about cost. Chen Chia-ming (陳佳民) was one of the students who benefited from the program, and on Saturday traveled from Taipei where he studies, back home to Taichung to vote for the first time.

Chen said he was grateful for the program, and that because Taiwan is small, traveling home with the TYAD program is straightforward. However he said ideally, regulations would be changed in the future so that voters could cast their ballots remotely.