[6.3 Election] Democratic Party Gwangju Metropolitan Council Primary Postponed by One Day... Additional Seats to Be Filled

The Democratic Party of Korea Gwangju Metropolitan City Party has decided to adjust part of its candidate primary methods and postpone the voting schedule by one day following changes to the metropolitan council electoral district boundaries. For constituencies with increased seats due to integration, additional candidates will be selected from those eliminated in the first primary through a supplementary vote by party members with voting rights. The order of candidate numbers for the general election will also be determined by a vote of all eligible party members in the integrated constituency.

On April 18, the Democratic Party of Korea Gwangju Metropolitan City Party announced that, in accordance with the changes to the electoral districts for metropolitan councilors in the 9th nationwide local elections, it plans to partially revise the candidate selection methods and the primary schedule.

Democratic Party of Korea Gwangju Metropolitan City Party Committee.

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According to the city party, in all constituencies-including Dongnam-gap, Buk-gu-gap, Buk-gu-eul, and Gwangsan-gu-eul-where constituencies have been merged and the number of council seats increased, the first round of primaries will proceed as previously determined, using the existing methods and candidate list. However, considering the time required for administrative procedures, such as the introduction of a new supplementary clause to the party regulations by the Central Party Executive Committee and the approval process, the voting schedule has been postponed by one day, from April 20-21 to April 21-22. The primaries will still be conducted using the same ARS voting method for eligible party members as before.

For constituencies where the number of council seats has increased due to the introduction of the multi-member constituency system, additional steps will be taken after the first primary. Among the candidates who were not selected in the first round, those who wish to participate in a second round will be subject to an additional vote by all eligible party members in the integrated constituency, and one more candidate will be selected.

The order of candidate numbers for the general election will also be determined by a vote of all eligible party members in the integrated constituency. The vote will be conducted among the candidates selected in the first primary to confirm the ballot order (such as "A", "B", etc.), and any additional candidates will be assigned subsequent positions.

Yang Bunam, head of the Democratic Party of Korea Gwangju Metropolitan City Party, stated, "The core of this implementation plan is to fairly reflect the will of all party members in the integrated constituency following the constituency integration. Although the schedule was adjusted by one day due to central party procedures, we will assemble a competitive lineup of candidates for the general election through a democratic process in which party members play the leading role."

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