[Anchor]
The leadership of the Democratic Party, which has been at odds over the method for electing the next party leader, decided today (July 14) to push for an amendment to party regulations to introduce a 'ranked-choice voting' system. Pro-Cheong faction members, who had opposed the system on the grounds that it violates the party constitution and regulations, strongly protested, questioning if the party would go as far as amending its regulations to implement it. One member even announced his resignation from the Supreme Council.
Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the story.
[Reporter]
The Democratic Party leadership has been engaged in heated debates over whether to introduce ranked-choice voting for the next party leader election scheduled for August 17.
Unable to reach a conclusion due to conflicting interests between factions regarding election rules, the leadership decided today, following a closed-door meeting, to pursue an amendment to party regulations to introduce the ranked-choice system.
Ranked-choice voting is a method where voters rank candidates in order of preference on their ballots. If no candidate receives a majority, the votes for the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes are redistributed based on the second-preference choices of those voters to determine the final winner.
Pro-Cheong faction members had previously opposed the introduction of the system, arguing that it violated the party constitution and regulations. However, the leadership decided to proceed by amending the regulations.
[Kang Jun-hyun/Chief Spokesperson of the Democratic Party: We decided to amend the party regulations to minimize controversy regarding the election of the leadership.]
The pro-Cheong faction protested the Supreme Council's decision, maintaining that not only the regulations but also the party constitution should be amended. Supreme Council Member Lee Sung-yoon declared his resignation, stating that he could not accept the decision.
[Lee Sung-yoon/Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party: I raised objections to pushing through a system that violates the party constitution and regulations with only one week left until candidate registration. I simply cannot accept this.]
The Democratic Party plans to hold a Party Affairs Committee meeting this afternoon to attempt to pass the amendment. If approved, the ranked-choice voting system is expected to be implemented in the upcoming national convention.
The introduction of a 'Youth Supreme Council Member' system, which would separate one of the five elected Supreme Council seats for a youth representative, was also discussed today but was rejected by the Supreme Council.
(Video reporting: Kim Yong-woo, Video editing: Nam Il)
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