Democratic Party Suspends Jangseong County Governor Primary Over 'Proxy Voting Suspicion'

The Democratic Party’s primary runoff for the Jangseong County Governor in the June 3 local elections has been suspended due to suspicions of proxy voting.

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According to the Democratic Party on April 15, a closed Supreme Council meeting was held at the National Assembly the previous day, where it was decided to halt the Jangseong County Governor primary runoff.

The Democratic Party has also decided to nullify the runoff vote that began that day and to conduct an emergency investigation by the party’s Ethics Inspection Team. On the morning of April 15, the Jangseong County Election Commission began an investigation after observing some residents attempting to participate in the Democratic Party’s automated response (ARS) primary voting using multiple neighbors’ mobile phones at a senior center in Samgye-myeon, Jangseong County.

At the time, more than 10 mobile phones were neatly arranged inside the senior center, each marked to identify its owner.

It was reported that residents staying at the senior center intended to answer ARS calls for primary voting on behalf of each phone’s owner when such calls came in.

The resident in question explained that they were trying to help elderly neighbors who had difficulty with ARS voting or were out working in the fields.

Three candidates-Kim Hanjong, Park Nowon, and So Youngho (listed in alphabetical order)-advanced to the Jangseong County Governor primary runoff, which was suspended that day, following the Democratic Party’s acceptance of their appeals.

Park’s camp, which had been eliminated in the previous preliminary primary, had filed for reconsideration with the party, citing the mass distribution of ‘false slander text messages’ as an issue.

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