"Why Are We Being Asked to Handle Gyeongnam Election Commission Work?" ... Gyeongnam Public Officials Union Holds Rally to Block Election Agency Tasks

Eighteen city and county government officials from Gyeongnam are holding a resolution rally to block election agency work in front of the Gyeongnam Election Commission on the 22nd. Photo by Se-ryeong Lee ryeong@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] About 70 public officials working at 18 city and county offices in Gyeongnam protested and took action against the Gyeongnam Election Commission’s delegation of election duties.

The Gyeongnam Regional Headquarters of the National Public Officials Labor Union held a resolution rally in front of the Gyeongnam Election Commission on the 22nd to block the delegation of election duties.

The union stated that they submitted a petition on the 15th demanding that the Gyeongnam Election Commission directly carry out the delegated tasks for the nationwide simultaneous local elections in June, but since it was not accepted, they held the resolution rally.

The union’s demands conveyed to the provincial election commission included ▲direct execution by city and county election commissions of election poster receipt and verification ▲poster posting and removal tasks ▲election publicity receipt, verification, and dispatch tasks.

On the day, the union said, “We have persistently demanded this for several months, but it was not accepted,” and “Instead, they are scheming to change the system to make election duties mandatory for local public officials.”

Kang Su-dong, Director of the Gyeongnam Headquarters, speaking. / Photo by Ryeong Lee ryeong@

Kang Su-dong, head of the Gyeongnam headquarters, criticized, “The Gyeongbuk Election Commission says it will perform election duties on its own by contracting with service companies or the Gyeongbuk Advertising Association,” and “The Changwon Election Commission also requested the Gyeongnam Advertising Association, so why is it only the Gyeongnam Election Commission that says they cannot do it themselves?”

He added, “The Gyeongnam Election Commission says there is no company to outsource tasks such as election posters and banner production,” and “There are hundreds of companies registered with the Gyeongnam Advertising Association, and the Outdoor Advertising Association says they can do it if only they are entrusted.”

He criticized that election duties should be performed by the election commission and should not be passed on to local public officials.

Although they are in charge of voting and counting tasks, he argued that these are not duties of local public officials and that even if they stop immediately, it would not violate the law.

He raised his voice, saying, “The Central Election Commission is trying to change the Local Autonomy Act to make local public officials perform election duties. They should immediately withdraw this scheme to avoid their original responsibilities.”

On the day, union members including Head Kang Su-dong sat at the negotiation table with the Gyeongnam Election Commission members.

The demands they presented were ▲the election commission directly performing delegated election duties ▲reducing the proportion of local public officials involved in election work to 30% ▲improving the treatment of voting staff, among others.

The union plans to hold another resolution rally if no agreement is reached with the election commission.

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