Panel holds first meeting at National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon
Cho Hyun-wook, chair of the National Election Commission's fact-finding committee set up to investigate the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections, said Wednesday the panel would "reveal the full picture of the incident through objective and accurate fact-finding and disclose the results transparently."
Cho, a former president of the Korean Women Lawyers Association, convened the committee's first meeting at the NEC's Gwacheon headquarters that day. "The committee has come together with a passion solely to uphold constitutional values regarding the infringement of voting rights, from an objective and neutral position regardless of political camp," she said.
She added that the panel would "hold those responsible strictly accountable" and said it would "propose and recommend reforms to the election management system to seek significant improvements and prevent further infringement of electoral fairness and credibility."
Cho urged the public not to interpret the committee's work as favorable or unfavorable based on political affiliation, asking people to watch over the panel with a supportive eye. She said the fact-finding committee "operates with independent standing."
She described the ballot shortage as "an unprecedented incident that absolutely cannot and should not occur in a liberal democratic state," saying it "cannot be excused as an administrative error or a failure in demand forecasting." She called it "a serious constitutional crisis in which citizens' right to vote was violated."
She said the incident "revealed a comprehensive breakdown of the election management system, given that it was caused by the NEC," and that an innovative overhaul of the system is needed to restore electoral fairness.
The six-member panel, composed entirely of outside figures including Cho, discussed the causes and responsibilities behind the ballot shortage at Wednesday's meeting. The committee is scheduled to operate for 10 days through June 19.
bigroot@heraldcorp.com
