People Power Party Condemns Election Commission for Undermining Secret Ballot and Direct Voting Principles

"There Was Negligent and Arrogant Election Management by the 선관위" Criticized

Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, is appealing for support from citizens at Duryu Park in Dalseo-gu, Daegu on the 4th. 2022.3.4 [Joint Coverage] [Image Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The People Power Party's election campaign headquarters condemned the Central Election Commission on the 6th for "poor election management that undermined the principle of secret ballot direct voting."

Yoon Ki-chan, spokesperson for the People Power Party's election campaign headquarters, stated in a commentary on the same day, "During the early voting for the 20th presidential election held over two days, there was negligent and arrogant election management by the Central Election Commission that cannot be overlooked."

Spokesperson Yoon pointed out, "Voters who tested positive were waiting not at the polling stations with ballot boxes but at temporary waiting areas. They marked ballots that were brought to them by election staff. For out-of-district voters, the ballots were placed in prepared return envelopes and sealed, while for in-district voters, the ballots were placed in non-standard temporary envelopes prepared by the election commission, then gathered in temporary transport containers (such as baskets, plastic bags, shopping bags, or cardboard boxes). Election commission staff then transported these containers without accompanying the voters to a separate location with ballot boxes, where the return envelopes and marked ballots were placed into the ballot boxes, thus proceeding with the early voting process."

He continued, "During this process, some infected voters collapsed at the polling stations, some gave up voting and left after waiting in the cold, and there was an absurd situation where a temporary envelope delivered by election staff to an infected in-district voter contained ballots marked for candidate Lee Jae-myung by other voters. The election commission explained that this was a mistake where the election staff failed to remove one of the multiple marked ballots inside the temporary envelope before placing it in the ballot box. This is a ridiculous and careless early voting election management by the election commission," he criticized.

Spokesperson Yoon emphasized, "The election commission must take responsibility for the poor election management that could have been prevented with just a little more attention, and they should realize that sincere election management is not a favor to the people but an obligation to them."

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