[Anchor]

It has been confirmed that three members of the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission have resigned one after another. The incident was triggered by an internal document sent by the National Election Commission (NEC) ahead of the review of election petitions, which include decisions on whether to hold re-elections for local government heads. The resigning members protested, claiming that the NEC had effectively issued guidelines to dismiss the election petitions.

Kim Kwan-jin reports.

[Reporter]

Following the resignation of Oh Min-seok, the former chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission, on June 5 due to poor management of the voting process, only seven out of the eight total members remained.

However, it has been confirmed that three members responsible for reviewing election petitions submitted their resignations collectively on Monday (July 6).

The Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission has received 97 election petition cases regarding local government heads and local council members.

An election petition is a procedure in which the election commission independently determines whether a re-election is necessary within 60 days.

Three days before expressing their intent to resign, on July 3, these three members received an email from the NEC containing a document titled "Reference Material."

It is reported that the document contained the NEC's internal stance that issues such as the extension of voting hours, voting after the disclosure of exit poll results, and the absence of observers during the transport of ballot boxes were "difficult to view as violations of the law or grounds for invalidation."

One Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission member told SBS, "It is effectively a directive to dismiss the election petitions, which undermines the independence and fairness of the review," adding, "I wanted to fulfill my responsibilities, but I had no choice but to resign."

Wi Chul-hwan, the acting chairman of the NEC, previously retracted a statement after suggesting that demands for re-elections were irresponsible.

[Wi Chul-hwan / Acting Chairman of the National Election Commission: In my view, the political circle should at least not be arguing for things like 're-elections.']

As the Seoul election commissioners resigned in succession while taking issue with the NEC's "preliminary guidelines," concerns are rising over potential disruptions in future petition reviews and controversies regarding the credibility of the review results.

The NEC explained to SBS, "We have confirmed the receipt of the resignation letters from the three members," and added, "The document was prepared solely for reference purposes and was not intended to influence the petitions."

(Video Editing: Wi Won-yang)

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[Anchor]

Kim Kwan-jin from the political desk, who covered this story, is here with us.

Q. What is the reason for the resignation of the three Seoul election commissioners?

[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin: After covering the news of their resignations, I met with the relevant Seoul election commissioner and learned that their protest is not because they have already made up their minds on whether the ballot paper shortage constitutes grounds for a re-election. The important point is that they judged it would be difficult to maintain fairness and independence in their review process because the NEC shared what were effectively guidelines in the form of 'reference material' even before the review began.]

Q. Was the NEC's reference material only sent to the Seoul commission?

[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin: The NEC stated that the material was also distributed to election commissions in other cities and provinces where election petitions were filed. In the case of the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission, four out of the seven members are legal professionals or legal scholars. One member we met expressed concern that in other regional election commissions with fewer members from legal backgrounds, the NEC's material is even more likely to act as a directive.]

Q. What will happen to future election petition reviews at the Seoul commission?

[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin: According to Article 10 of the Election Commission Act, the quorum for a resolution is the attendance of a majority of the members and the approval of a majority of those present. Out of the original eight members of the Seoul commission, former chairman Oh Min-seok resigned after the ballot paper shortage incident, and with three more submitting resignations this time, only four will remain once their dismissal procedures are complete. Because the regulations of the Election Commission Act are somewhat ambiguous, it is unclear whether the total number of members should be considered as the original eight or the remaining four. If it is the latter, it would be possible to reach a conclusion on the election petitions with a majority attendance and majority vote. However, this could spark further controversy over the legitimacy of the resolution. For now, the NEC says it will hasten the appointment of new members to avoid any administrative vacuum, but it is unknown how long that will take. As election petitions must be decided within 60 days of receipt, there are also concerns about whether sufficient deliberation time can be secured.]

(Video Editing: Park Ji-in)