Supreme Court: Publicly Rating General Election Candidates' Environmental Pledges Violates Election Law

The Supreme Court has delivered a significant ruling, upholding the convictions of leaders from the civic group 'Changwon Climate Action' for violating the Public Official Election Act. The group's public assessment and ranking of environmental pledges made by parliamentary candidates during the 2024 general election has been deemed illegal, resulting in fines for its key members. This decision underscores the strict regulations surrounding election campaigning in South Korea and the judiciary's role in enforcing them.

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The Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' decisions, fining the group's advisor 1 million won and former/current representatives 700,000 won each.

The core of the legal challenge lies in the group's methodology, which involved analyzing and categorizing candidates' climate pledges into five grades: 'most excellent,' 'excellent,' 'average,' 'insufficient,' and 'failure.' The prosecution argued, and the courts agreed, that such a grading system constitutes an illegal 'ranking' of candidates, prohibited by Article 108-3 of the Election Act. This law aims to prevent organizations from unduly influencing voters through biased evaluations presented as objective policy comparisons.

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The court ruled that ranking pledges using terms like 'excellent' or 'poor' constitutes prohibited 'ranking' of candidates.

Furthermore, the courts noted that the group proceeded with their press conference announcing these rankings despite having been advised by the election commission that their actions could be in violation of election law. This disregard for official guidance was considered an aggravating factor in sentencing. The fines, confirmed by the Supreme Court, serve as a clear message that while civic engagement is valued, it must operate within the legal framework established to ensure fair and unbiased elections.

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The Public Official Election Act prohibits organizations from ranking candidates by scores, rankings, or grades when comparing candidate pledges.