"Dissolve NEC Through Constitutional Amendment" vs. "Special Counsel Probe First"

[Anchor]

Following public outrage over the "ballot paper shortage," the Democratic Party has proposed amending the Constitution to dissolve the National Election Commission (NEC) and overhaul everything from its name to its operational structure. However, the People Power Party has countered, stating that a special counsel investigation must take precedence over constitutional reform.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

The core of the reform plan unveiled yesterday (June 26) by the Democratic Party's "NEC Reform Task Force" is the dissolution and reconstruction of the commission.

[Song Ki-hun / Head of the Democratic Party's NEC Reform Task Force: We will dissolve the National Election Commission through a constitutional amendment.]

The current Constitution stipulates that the NEC is established for the management of elections, and in February of last year, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Board of Audit and Inspection cannot conduct job inspections of the NEC, which is an independent constitutional institution.

The Democratic Party's task force intends to amend the Constitution to change the name of the NEC and the method of appointing its members, while also enabling the Board of Audit and Inspection to audit the commission.

They also presented plans to revise the NEC Act to change the position of the NEC Chairperson from non-standing to standing, increase the number of standing commissioners from one to three, and require the NEC Secretary-General to undergo a National Assembly confirmation hearing.

[Lee Hae-sik / Executive Secretary of the Democratic Party's NEC Reform Task Force: We propose changing the system so that important administrative tasks are handled by these standing commissioners or the chairperson.]

Given the current distribution of seats in the National Assembly, the consent of the People Power Party is effectively required for a constitutional amendment. The People Power Party has drawn a line, arguing that a special counsel investigation should come first and that the Democratic Party's proposal for constitutional reform is an attempt to divert public attention.

[Seo Beom-soo / People Power Party Lawmaker (Executive Secretary of the Special Committee on the Ballot Paper Incident): What the public is asking is why the ballot paper incident occurred and who will take responsibility for it. Who doesn't see the intention to just cover it up and move on?]

The ruling and opposition parties also hold differing views on the NEC labor union's proposal to "gradually abolish early voting and expand the main voting period to two days."

While about 20 People Power Party lawmakers have jointly proposed an amendment to the Public Official Election Act to abolish early voting, citing excessive administrative costs and other negative side effects, there is a strong sentiment within the Democratic Party that abolishing early voting, which was introduced to boost voter turnout, would be a regression.

(Reported by Ha Jeongyeon | Video by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Park Sun-soo | Graphics by Choi Jin-hoe)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.