Supreme Court of Korea dismisses election nullification lawsuit by Nam Young-hee, who lost by 1,025 votes

[Financial News] Nam Young-hee, then a Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate who lost by a margin of 1,025 votes to People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun in the Incheon Dong–Michuhol B constituency during the 2024 South Korean legislative election, filed an election nullification lawsuit, but it has been dismissed by the Supreme Court of Korea.
The Supreme Court Third Division, presided over by Justice Lee Sook-yeon of the Supreme Court of Korea, on the 15th dismissed former Institute for Democracy deputy head Nam Young-hee’s election nullification lawsuit against the Incheon Michuhol-gu Election Commission. Election nullification lawsuits are heard only once at the Supreme Court of Korea.
In the legislative election last year, Nam, then a candidate in the Incheon Dong District, Incheon–Michuhol District, Incheon B constituency, received 57,705 votes (49.55%), but was defeated by 1,025 votes (0.9%) by People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun, who garnered 58,730 votes (50.44%). She subsequently filed the lawsuit, arguing that the Dong–Michuhol B Election Commission violated election administration rules—such as by failing to properly disclose the ballot-counting process—resulting in procedural errors.
The Supreme Court of Korea found that the Election Commission had neither obstructed the exercise of participation rights by Nam’s ballot-counting observers in the ballot box opening and counting process nor violated the provisions of the Public Official Election Act governing observation procedures, and held that it was also difficult to conclude that any such conduct had affected the outcome of the election.
The court also rejected Nam’s claim that ballots from another constituency had been mixed into the count, citing a lack of evidence. While it acknowledged that the Election Commission violated regulations on the administration and execution of election affairs by posting only the ballot-count aggregation sheet instead of publicly releasing the ballot-count status sheet at the time, it concluded that this did not affect the result of the election.

hwlee@fnnews.com Lee Hwan-joo Reporter