[fn Editorial] Growing Interest in Early Voting, Must Strive for Fair and Transparent Management

The early voting for the 21st presidential election is just a day away. It will be held at polling stations nationwide for two days starting from the 29th. As it is conducted amid suspicions of election fraud, interest in fair and transparent management is higher than ever. According to the Central Election Management Committee, early voting will be held at 3,569 polling stations nationwide on the 29th and 30th. Unlike past early voting, where one of the two days was a Saturday or holiday, this time both days are weekdays. Political parties are keenly observing how this will affect early voting rates and candidates' vote shares.

Interest and importance in early voting are growing. The early voting rate, which was 26% during the 2017 presidential election, reached a record high of 37% in the 2022 presidential election. This signifies that early voting has become an important schedule virtually equivalent to the main vote. Previously, overseas voting held in 118 countries from the 20th to the 25th saw 200,000 participants, recording the highest voting rate (79.5%) ever.

The Central Election Management Committee has also prepared comprehensive measures, conscious of management deficiencies and transparency issues. They decided to disclose the number of voters, which was roughly disclosed by district, on an hourly basis and for each polling station. CCTV footage capturing the early ballot boxes will also be available 24 hours a day. The entire process, including voting, counting, post office receipt of return envelopes, and ballot box transportation, will be shown to an external fair election observation group. They plan to operate all 260,000 voting and counting staff as Korean nationals to block election interference and manipulation suspicions.

Presidential candidates are also encouraging participation by stating they will "vote early." Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party candidate, said, "Please make sure you don't miss early voting by delaying," while Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party candidate, assured, "We will thoroughly monitor and supervise, so don't worry," appealing for precious votes. Lee Jun-seok, the Reform New Party candidate, urged, "Show the young generation's vote for the future in early voting."

Fair and transparent election management is the raison d'être of the Election Commission. The Election Commission has failed to faithfully fulfill its basic duties, leading to distrust and transparency issues. In the last presidential election, there was mismanagement of ballots and ballot boxes, such as the 'basket ballot box' incident. During the general election, poor management and supervision, such as delayed action on hidden cameras in early voting stations, caused public outrage. This further inflated election fraud conspiracy theories and even led to grounds for martial law.

The Election Commission must manage the entire early voting process transparently and fairly to an excessive extent. They must put all their efforts into management so that there is no room for conspiracy theories of 'fraud' or 'manipulation' to creep in. The conditions at polling stations nationwide cannot be the same. They must ensure that election officials and managers are thoroughly familiar with the legal regulations regarding voter identification, stamping, and management of ballots and ballot boxes, and that there are no procedural errors. They must check and recheck to prevent incidents that could cause unnecessary noise, conflict, and division. Through this, the Election Commission can also regain its lost trust.