Ruling party leader's push for by-election, early voting ban draws fire

Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, is escalating calls for a nationwide by-election and advocating for the abolition of early voting, citing a ballot shortage incident during the recent local elections. This push is drawing criticism as an unreasonable overreach, particularly as Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has already dismissed the possibility of a by-election.

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The fundamental solution is a nationwide by-election... We will promptly proceed with internal party discussions to propose a special bill for nationwide by-elections.

During a press conference, Jang asserted that the "fundamental solution" to the disenfranchisement caused by the ballot shortage is a nationwide by-election, and announced plans to expedite internal party discussions for a special bill to facilitate this. He further argued for the abolition of early voting, pointing to statistically improbable scenarios, such as identical vote counts for two candidates in specific 인천 (Incheon) and 전남 (Jeonnam) districts, which he claimed had a probability of one in 590 million.

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The probability of the vote counts being exactly the same for candidates Park Chan-dae and Yoo Jeong-bok in the Songdo 1 and 2 districts of Incheon was one in 590 million.

However, election commissions in Incheon and Jeonnam have refuted Jang's claims, urging him to refrain from making baseless allegations of election fraud based on rare statistical occurrences. The party leader's stance has also faced internal dissent. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, in an interview, stated that by-elections cannot be held unless procedural flaws constitute significant illegalities affecting the outcome. Another party member, Park Jeong-ha, questioned the party's benefit from a by-election, suggesting it implies a call for the Seoul mayor's resignation.

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We ask that you refrain from making groundless suspicions of election fraud simply because a probability is low.

Jang's push for a by-election and early voting abolition has also drawn sharp criticism from opposition figures. Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform Party, accused the People Power Party of becoming a "Yoon Again" party, aligning itself with former President Yoon Suk-yeol's alleged actions. Meanwhile, responsibility for the election defeat continues to be debated within the party, with some members suggesting that Jang's leadership played a role in the loss.

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By today, the People Power Party has fallen into delusion and declared its unification with former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who sent troops to the National Election Commission, thus becoming the 'Yoon Again' party.