Jang Donghyuk: "Election Commission Must Hold Re-Election If It Cannot Dispel Election Suspicions on Its Own"

Jang Donghyuk Holds Press Briefing
Ahead of Oral Arguments on Seoul, Gyeonggi,
and Incheon Election Complaints

Dang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, argued on July 27 that, "If the National Election Commission fails to prove its impartiality and transparency regarding the shortage of ballots and allegations of electronic manipulation that arose during the election process, it must declare a re-election even at this stage."

On this day, prior to attending the oral argument at the National Election Commission as a principal party in the request for election review for the June 3 local elections in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, Leader Dang held a press briefing at the National Assembly and made this statement.

Dang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, is holding a press conference regarding the request for election review and other current issues related to the June 3 local elections at the National Assembly on July 27, 2026. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

He emphasized, "The biggest issues in the petition regarding this local election are the shortage of ballot papers, the subsequent procedural problems it triggered, and allegations of electronic manipulation." He added, "The shortage of ballots was only the beginning of the problem and just the tip of the iceberg."

In particular, referencing cases where voter numbers were retroactively adjusted in certain regions, he stated, "If the number of voters was arbitrarily modified, then inevitably the number of votes received would also change accordingly. Manipulation of voter turnout is bound to lead to manipulation of the vote share."

He went on to point out, "The key issue is not how many places were manipulated or to what extent, but that election commission staff can enter figures such as turnout or vote count in the system without any monitoring or reporting process, and there are no mechanisms in place to control this."

Leader Dang demanded that the National Election Commission should disclose both the number of eligible voters who could not cast their ballots due to the shortage of ballot papers and the number of ballot boxes and ballots that were affected by procedural errors. He said, "All materials and evidence are in the hands of the election commission. Instead of shifting the burden of proof to petitioners who hold none of these, the commission itself should provide the answers directly."

He further stated, "If the election commission fails to fully resolve all suspicions, this local election is invalid and a re-election is necessary. An immediate special prosecution must also be launched, along with reform at a level that would dismantle the current commission."

Dang also argued that the scope of a possible re-election should not be limited to certain contests, emphasizing that elections for metropolitan and basic local government heads, local assemblies, and proportional representatives were all held simultaneously during the local election.

He explained, "In a country like ours, where politics revolve around parties, local elections also function more as a party-based vote. While the ballots are separated, it is impossible to interpret the will of the voters for each contest individually." He added, "Not a single one of the 16 metropolitan governments can be an exception."

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