Jang Dong-hyuk Calls for Special Law Amid Election Re-run Push

Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, advocated for the introduction of a special law to address the shortage of ballots during the June 3 local elections and to push for a re-run of the elections.

During a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on the morning of June 18, Jang stated, "Yesterday, our party filed election complaints in 11 regions, including seven directly from the party and four from regional candidates."

He also announced the establishment of a special committee for a national investigation led by the People Power Party, emphasizing, "Now it’s time for a special investigation. In the last presidential election, ballots from previous general and local elections were found. We cannot predict how many ballots may be missing in this election as well."

Jang highlighted that there were confirmed cases of voters who received numbers but could not vote, and many more who likely gave up voting without even receiving a number. He pointed out that the main culprit behind this situation is the powerful figure at the National Election Commission, the only standing commissioner, Wi Cheol-hwan.

He criticized, "The person who should be investigated is currently acting as the chair of the election commission. Because he is associated with Lee Jae-myung, the joint investigation team cannot take action against him. How can we trust the joint investigation team to conduct a fair investigation under these circumstances?"

Jang stressed the necessity of assigning the investigation to a special prosecutor recommended by the People Power Party, stating, "Only then can we produce results that the public can accept."

Regarding the issue of conducting a re-run of the elections, he stated, "We cannot leave this matter solely to complaints and court rulings. If problems are discovered through a national investigation and special prosecution, it will be too late to take action then. We need to introduce a special law to resolve this politically."

He also invited Jeong Cheong-rae, leader of the Democratic Party, to discuss election reform, saying, "Any format or agenda is fine. Let’s meet and discuss." He added, "The People Power Party will dedicate all efforts to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding this deprivation of voting rights and to establish a trustworthy electoral system for the public."