Ahead of Elections, Free Distribution of Manifestos Deemed 'Illegal Donation'... Supreme Court Confirms Guilty Verdict

In a ruling by the Supreme Court, the act of distributing pledge booklets of prospective candidates free of charge ahead of elections has been deemed an "illegal donation" prohibited under the Public Official Election Act.

According to the legal community on the 3rd, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyunghwan) recently finalized the lower court's ruling that sentenced Mr. Lee, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, to a fine of 1.5 million won.

Supreme Court

Mr. Lee was indicted on charges of conspiring with others to distribute 614 pledge booklets of prospective candidates, which he registered as a county governor candidate for the 8th simultaneous local elections held in 2022, by placing them in mailboxes of shops or residences within the electoral district or slipping them under car windshield wipers free of charge. In particular, he was also accused of effectively making donations by selling handmade sujebi and naengmyeon produced by his own company at prices lower than market value.

The Public Official Election Act prohibits candidates from making donations in any form. Mr. Lee argued that pledge booklets are not included among the donation acts prohibited under the Act, but both the first and second trials found most of his charges to be guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 1.5 million won. The Supreme Court also upheld the lower court's ruling, finding no issues.

The Supreme Court stated, "Pledge booklets of prospective candidates are items intended to promote the candidate's policies and contribute to building a support base, and unlike business cards or promotional materials, they are published in the form of books at considerable expense." It added, "If (pledge booklets) are distributed free of charge, it enables relatively superior promotional activities and effective election campaigns based on financial power, which ultimately raises concerns that the candidate's financial power may influence voters' decision-making."

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