Democratic Party of Korea floor spokespersons Kim Seong-hoe and Lee Ju-hee submit the special prosecutor bill targeting the National Election Commission to the National Assembly's bill-receipt office on Thursday. [Yonhap]
Democratic Party of Korea floor spokespersons Kim Seong-hoe and Lee Ju-hee submit the special prosecutor bill targeting the National Election Commission to the National Assembly's bill-receipt office on Thursday. [Yonhap]

The Democratic Party of Korea has filed a special prosecutor bill as its official party position to investigate the ballot shortage and alleged mismanagement during the June 3 local elections. The bill calls for appointing a special prosecutor to examine the reduced-size ballot printing, vote-counting management, computer errors and the overall operations of the National Election Commission.

Floor spokesperson Lee Ju-hee announced Thursday that the party had submitted to the National Assembly a bill formally titled the "Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor to Investigate the Truth Behind the Ballot Shortage and Election Mismanagement at the 9th Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections and Related Violations of Citizens' Voting Rights."

Under the bill, the special prosecutor would be selected through nominations — one each from the Korean Association of Law Professors, the Law School Association of Korea and the Korean Bar Association — with the president appointing one of the three nominees.

The special prosecutor may be supported by up to 30 seconded prosecutors and 70 seconded civil servants as needed. The president must appoint five deputy special prosecutors recommended by the special prosecutor, who may also appoint up to 50 special investigators.

The probe's scope covers three areas: the legality of the decision-making process behind the reduced-size ballot printing; allegations that the reporting chain was deliberately omitted or concealed on election day; and unlawful conduct in overall election management, including illegal vote counting and the extension of voting hours.

Also subject to investigation are votes omitted due to data-entry errors in races such as the North Jeolla education superintendent election, and the circumstances surrounding the unauthorized abandonment and disappearance of election materials — including ballot storage boxes — at the No. 2 polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Seoul.

The bill also covers allegations of lavish overseas trips by senior NEC officials and preferential promotions for their children, as well as the commission's broader mismanagement. Any related cases uncovered during the investigation and any attempts to obstruct the special prosecutor's work would likewise fall within the probe's remit.

Lee said the investigation would "carefully examine and probe the full range of problems exposed by the election mismanagement, including issues with the voting and counting process."

Asked whether government agencies would fall within the investigation's scope, Lee said the NEC is "a constitutionally independent body separate from the three branches of government — legislative, executive and judicial." She added, "I am not sure what there would be to verify regarding the government, but if any civil servant is found to have engaged in problematic conduct during the investigation, that would fall within the scope of the probe."

The special prosecutor's investigation period, including a preparation phase, is set at 170 days. Following a 20-day preparation period, the prosecutor must conduct the investigation for 90 days. If the investigation cannot be completed within that time, the period may be extended once by 30 days after reporting to the president and the National Assembly.

Should further investigation still be needed after that, the period may be extended once more by an additional 30 days with presidential approval.


th5@heraldcorp.com