Controversy Surrounds Public Opinion Poll for Goheung County Governor Candidate

Controversy Over Fixing Democratic Party Candidate Without Rotation in Virtual Match Against Current County Head Song Guigeun

On June 18, at the Democratic Party's Goheung-Boseong-Jangheung-Gangjin delegate conference, the candidates for Goheung County Governor ratified the primary agreement and joined hands with Representative Kim Seung-nam.

[Goheung=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] There has been much controversy surrounding the recent suitability poll for the Jeonnam Goheung County Governor candidates.

In the Goheung County Governor candidate poll conducted by Company D on the 1st and 2nd, the candidates in the hypothetical head-to-head matchups between incumbent County Governor Song Gwi-geun and five Democratic Party candidates did not rotate, and a specific candidate remained fixed as the frontrunner.

The order of the head-to-head matchups was stated to be based on the number of National Assembly seats held by the candidates' affiliated parties, followed by the question: "1. Democratic Party candidate, 2. Independent Song Gwi-geun, current Goheung County Governor, 3. No preferred candidate, 4. Don't know," with the candidate order fixed as Gong Young-min, former Director of Jeju Development Institute; Kim Hak-young, former Chief of Goheung Police Station; Park Jin-kwon, current Jeonnam Provincial Council member; Song Young-jong, former Vice Mayor of Suncheon; and Jang Se-seon, former Chairman of Goheung County Council.

In the local political circles, there is criticism that general residents who have not yet decided on a candidate might choose the candidate who appears earlier in the question order without listening to all five candidates until the end. It is argued that this is a technical manipulation of the poll that could be disadvantageous to some candidates.

Regarding these claims, a Jeonnam Province polling official stated, "Since the order of the head-to-head matchups was disclosed based on the number of National Assembly seats held by the affiliated parties, there is no problem under current law," but added, "It is an understandable criticism. We will take it into consideration during poll review."

Meanwhile, Kim Seung-nam, National Assembly member and Democratic Party Goheung Regional Chairman, prohibited opinion polls following the agreement among candidates at the June 18th temporary delegates' meeting to narrow down the county governor candidates to two through a preliminary primary.

Accordingly, as the recent series of Goheung County Governor candidate polls violate Kim Seung-nam's ban on opinion polls, some argue that this issue should be handled at the regional committee level, drawing attention to Kim Seung-nam's response.

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