Early voter turnout on the increase; NEC strengthens fair election measures

Early voting in South Korea's 21st presidential election is being held over two days, today and tomorrow, at 3,569 polling places across the country. Election Day is June 3.

South Korean livelihoods and state affairs were thrown into disarray by former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law decree last December followed by his impeachment and dismissal. The election has historical significance in that it is held to fill a leadership void and stabilize the nation as quickly as possible.

This requires voters to choose carefully, and it can be achieved only through a clean election. One of the most important preconditions for a clean election is transparent election management.

Not a few people feel uneasy about the National Election Commission, however, which has lost their confidence as it was embroiled in an employment scandal on top of suspicions of vote rigging.

The reason the commission must put its heart and soul this time into its duty to ensure fairness in early voting is because the NEC lies at the heart of public distrust. Conspiracy theories persist that early voting is a hotbed of election rigging. Some lawmakers of the conservative People Power Party have proposed bills to abolish early voting in a bid to dispel public distrust of it.

The commission invited distrust by carrying completed ballots in plastic baskets, paper boxes and shopping bags in early voting in the 20th presidential election. Employment irregularities at the organization angered the public, fueling their distrust of it.

Apparently prodded by criticism, the NEC recently unveiled measures to increase transparency in early voting. It will disclose the number of early voters every hour by polling place. In the past, it announced early voting turnouts aggregated by city or town. The commission will also keep surveillance camera footage of early voting ballot boxes open to the public around the clock. It will open the whole process of the election, including the transfer of ballot boxes and the ballot count, to outside election observers. It will hire only Korean citizens as election management workers in a bid to preclude suspicions of manipulation and intervention.

Voters' interest in early voting and its weight in elections have grown. Early voting turnout in presidential elections increased from 26 percent in 2017 to 36.9 percent in 2022. The 2022 figure was almost as high as the Election Day turnout of 40.2 percent. About 200,000 Korean expats in 118 foreign countries cast ballots from May 20-25, marking the highest-ever overseas turnout of 79.5 percent.

In the past, one of the two early voting days has fallen on Saturday or a holiday, but this time they are both on weekdays. Candidates and their parties are paying close attention to what influence the schedule change will have on turnout and their shares of the vote.

Major presidential candidates have vowed to vote early themselves and have encouraged others to join. Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea asked people not to pass up the chance to vote early. Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party appealed to voters not to worry about vote rigging, assuring them that the election will be closely watched this time. Kim has been negative on early voting and once pledged to repeal it, but he changed his tune apparently out of concern about a possible low turnout overall. New Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok called on young people and others to vote early.

The chair of the NEC, Rho Tae-ak, said he asks not only political parties and candidates but also the people to respect the result of the election and accept it to prevent political and social chaos.

Acceptance depends on fair and clean election management. The commission should do everything possible to ensure a transparent election. If it can reclaim public trust, there should be no bones of contention in the process and the outcome of the election.


koreadherald@heradcorp.com