"Election Duties Are Being Shifted to Local Government Officials"

Complaints Raised on Anonymous Online Communities

Jeonggongno Demands End to Designation of Campaign Material Processing as Proxy Work

Also Calls on Election Commission to Increase Processing Fees

Hints at Refusal to Process Materials if Situation Does Not Improve

As of the End of February, 133 Election Commission Employees on Leave

"Leave Rush" Repeats for Every Major Election

Kim Daeung, Election Commission Member Nominee, at Confirmation Hearing

"Leave of Absence to the Point of Paralyzing Core Duties Is a Problem"

"During election season, the community service center gives up weekends and holidays to work on mailing campaign materials from morning until 11 p.m., while the election commission just stands by folding their arms and watches for 10 minutes before leaving."

As preparations for the June 3 presidential election ramp up, a local government official tasked with election duties posted a message on the anonymous community 'Blind.' The post claims that the Central Election Commission, which is supposed to oversee the entire election process, is shifting a significant portion of election-related work onto local government officials. These officials argue that the Election Commission should handle these tasks directly.

One of the main proxy tasks mentioned by local government officials is the processing of campaign materials. When candidates produce campaign brochures to promote their pledges, these need to be mailed to the addresses of eligible voters. Officials say this process causes severe administrative inefficiency and waste. While candidates send their campaign materials to the Election Commission, the task of transporting these materials to the 'work area' where they are inserted into envelopes is assigned to local government officials. Because each candidate sends out their materials at different times, officials must travel back and forth between the Election Commission and the work area multiple times. In the case of the presidential election, the workload has doubled because booklet-type campaign materials are sent separately from flyer-type materials.

Yonhap News

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Even if they try to outsource the processing of campaign materials, the labor budget is set at only about 84,000 won, making it difficult to secure workers. Park Jungbae, Senior Vice Chair of the National Public Officials Labor Union, said, "Because it is hard to find people, we tell them to work for just four hours and then leave, and the remaining work is done by the officials themselves," adding, "There is no extra pay for the officials who supervise and oversee the processing of campaign materials."

The National Public Officials Labor Union has demanded that the designation of campaign material processing as proxy work be stopped for this presidential election and has also called on the Election Commission to increase the processing fees. They have indicated that if the situation does not improve, they may refuse to process the campaign materials altogether. Jeong Haechan, Secretary-General of the Namhae County branch of the union, said, "Article 13, Paragraph 3 of the Public Official Election Act allows the lower election commissions to be directed to handle tasks only 'when it is deemed particularly necessary' for election management," adding, "Since the enactment of the Public Official Election Act, without a single exception, all elections have seen proxy tasks shifted to lower commissions. How can this 'exceptionality' be recognized in every single election?"

Yonhap News

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The dissatisfaction among local government officials has grown as it has become known that many Election Commission employees take leave before major elections. According to data on employees on leave received by Representative Lee Manhee's office from the Election Commission, as of the end of February this year, there were 133 employees on leave. In the past, there were 134 employees on leave in February 2020, when the 21st National Assembly election was held, and 204 employees on leave as of the end of February 2022, when both the presidential and local elections took place. In response, the Central Election Commission reportedly sent out an official notice last month urging staff to refrain from taking leave except in unavoidable cases, even mentioning the possibility of transfers to other cities or provinces. At last month's National Assembly confirmation hearing for Election Commission member nominee Kim Daeung, it was pointed out that "although the right to take leave is legally protected and cannot be forcibly restricted, the widespread practice of taking leave to the extent that it interferes with core election management duties is a major problem for the institution's operation."