People Power Party Files Election Petitions in 7 Regions; Democratic Party Calls It 'Bulletproof Petition' for Jang Dong-hyuk

[Anchor]

Regarding the shortage of ballot papers during the June 3 local elections, the People Power Party has finalized the list of seven cities and provinces where it will file election petitions. We connect to the National Assembly for more details.

Reporter Kim Gwan-jin, there was much internal debate over whether it would be six or nine regions, but has it finally been set at seven?

[Reporter]

The deadline for filing election petitions is today, June 17.

Through a general meeting of lawmakers that concluded late this afternoon, the People Power Party decided to file election petitions for seven regions: Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon, Busan, Ulsan, Gwangju, and North Chungcheong Province.

As of yesterday, the party had planned to file in nine regions, including Daegu and South Gyeongsang Province, but those two regions where the People Power Party won were excluded.

During the general meeting, Representative Jang Dong-hyuk argued that they should target all 16 cities and provinces nationwide, stating that it is unclear where additional problems might emerge.

On the other hand, the newly inaugurated floor leader, Jung Jeom-sik, held a different view, suggesting that the petitions should be limited to regions where voting was delayed or suspended.

After three hours of debate among the lawmakers, the decision was ultimately settled on the floor leader's proposal.

[Anchor]

Is it possible that the number of regions could actually increase?

[Reporter]

While the party is filing in seven regions, individual candidates for metropolitan government heads in each area can still file separate election petitions in their personal capacity.

Jang's side stated that candidates for mayor or governor in four regions, including Daejeon, are preparing additional petitions.

These are regions where People Power Party candidates lost. Including these four with the seven filed by the party, the total number of regions subject to petitions from the People Power Party side could reach 11.

[Anchor]

Then, what is the Democratic Party's stance on the People Power Party's petitions?

[Reporter]

The Democratic Party criticized the move as a "bulletproof petition" to protect Representative Jang Dong-hyuk.

They argued that Representative Jang is engaging in irresponsible political maneuvering by fueling distrust in the election to create a source of political strife, and urged the party to focus on parliamentary discussions for a comprehensive reform of the National Election Commission.

Meanwhile, People Power Party lawmaker Jung Hee-yong revealed that at least 39 voters gave up on voting or were unable to vote at 26 polling stations nationwide where voting was suspended on the day of the local election, a figure that an official from the National Election Commission confirmed to be accurate.

(On-site coverage: Pyeon Chan-hyung | Video editing: Won Hyung-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.