Na Kyung-won: "If I Were Oh Se-hoon, I Would Declare a Re-election Immediately"...Proposes Election Law Amendment

Repeated Criticism Over Ballot Shortage Crisis
"Re-election Is Essential in Problematic Districts"
Calls for Election Commission Reform Up to Dissolution

On June 12, Na Kyung-won, a member of the People Power Party, proposed an amendment to the Public Official Election Act to expand the grounds for invalidating elections, stating that “any electoral district where problems occurred must hold a re-election” in relation to the ballot paper shortage during the June 3 local elections. The amendment explicitly includes a provision for retroactive application so that it can be applied to the recent local elections.

On this day at the National Assembly Communication Office, Assemblywoman Na held a press conference together with fellow People Power Party members Kim Sun-kyo, Yoo Sang-beom, Cho Seung-hwan, Kwak Kyu-taek, Joo Jin-woo, and Choi Soo-jin.

Na Kyungwon, a member of the People Power Party, is holding a press conference on the poor handling of the June 3 local elections at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 12th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Assemblywoman Na emphasized, “If I were the elected mayor of Seoul, I would have gone straight to Jamsil Olympic Park to declare a re-election,” and added, “For any district with issues in this election that undermined the very foundation of democracy, a re-election is absolutely necessary.”

She continued, “This June 3 local election was not just a matter of poor management, but a breakdown of fairness and the national system itself,” arguing, “There was a shortage of ballots at 91 polling stations nationwide, and voting was suspended at 26 locations.”

Assemblywoman Na also asserted that the National Election Commission should not wait for the court’s judgment but instead conduct partial re-elections on its own authority. She stated, “At the very least, immediate partial re-elections should be held in areas where ballot shortages occurred and in districts where errors in electronic ballot counting have been confirmed.”

Additionally, she introduced that on the previous day she had sponsored an amendment to the Public Official Election Act that would allow an election to be invalidated if a voter’s right to vote is infringed due to the Election Commission’s fault, regardless of the election result. Under the current law, an election can only be invalidated if a violation of election regulations is deemed to have affected the outcome; the proposed amendment aims to explicitly recognize infringement of suffrage itself as grounds for invalidation.

Assemblywoman Na also delivered strong criticism of the National Election Commission. She argued, “The Election Commission is now an irreparable organization,” and insisted, “We must dismantle its abnormal structure, which monopolizes the powers of establishing, enforcing, and auditing election rules, and build a new election governance system that the public can trust.”

She further stated, “The practical work of conducting and counting elections should be distributed to other agencies, and an independent external monitoring body should be created.” She also announced plans to hold an expert forum in the National Assembly to discuss reform measures, including the possible dissolution of the Election Commission.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.