The leadership of the Democratic Party (DP) decided today, July 14, to push for an amendment to party regulations to introduce a ranked-choice voting system for the party leader election.

Chief Spokesperson Kang Jun-hyeon told reporters that the decision was made during a closed-door Supreme Council meeting held this morning.

Regarding the amendment, Spokesperson Kang explained, "We have explicitly stated that ranked-choice voting can be used as a method for conducting a runoff election."

The Democratic Party plans to hold a Party Affairs Committee meeting at 4:00 PM today to attempt to pass the amendment.

If the amendment is approved, it is expected that the ranked-choice voting system will be implemented in the upcoming national convention.

Ranked-choice voting is a method where voters rank candidates in order of preference (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.). If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the second-choice votes from those who voted for the eliminated candidate are redistributed to determine the final winner.

The move to amend party regulations today appears to be a procedure intended to persuade the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction, which has opposed the introduction of the system on the grounds that it violates party regulations.

However, the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction has expressed opposition to the Supreme Council's decision, maintaining that not only the party regulations but also the party constitution must be amended.

Supreme Council member Lee Sung-yoon, who belongs to the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction, met with reporters and stated, "This is absolutely unacceptable," adding, "I find it difficult to continue serving as a Supreme Council member under these circumstances, so I am stepping down from my position effective today."

Meanwhile, a proposal to introduce a "Youth Supreme Council Member" system, which would separate one of the five elected Supreme Council seats for a youth representative to be elected separately, was rejected by the Supreme Council.

(Photo: Yonhap News)