A petition on the White House's "We the People" petition platform claims that South Korea's April 15 general election was "rigged" by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and President Moon Jae-in. The petition, uploaded on April 18, had gained more than 17,000 signatures as of Friday afternoon. Captured from White House website
By Jung Da-min Some conservative lawmakers and activists have alleged that vote rigging took place during the April 15 general election to form the 21st National Assembly. The allegation emerged after the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and its "satellite party" Civil Together won a landslide victory securing 180 seats out of the 300 National Assembly seats. The conservative main opposition United Future Party (UFP) and its satellite Future Korea Party gained just 103 seats. After the crushing defeat, some far-right YouTubers started to claim that the election was "rigged," saying ballots placed during the early voting period were tampered with. One even asked for "help" regarding the supposed vote rigging by posting a petition on the White House's "We the People," a section of the U.S.' presidential office website through which citizens can petition the U.S. government. Under the title, "South Korea Elections rigged deliberately by ruling party and Moon Jae-in," the petitioner said that the difference in party support between ballots cast early and those cast on Election Day was 10 percent to 15 percent, while the figure was normally under 7 percent.
The person added that despite requests, the National Election Commission didn't install surveillance cameras in ballot storage areas and "where there were cameras, screens had been covered, hence the early voting ballot boxes were not safe." The petition on the U.S. government website was uploaded on April 18 and over 17,000 people have signed as of Friday afternoon. It will get a response from the White House if more than 100,000 people sign it before it expires May 18.
National Election Commission staff move ballot boxes at a ballot counting station in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, April 15, after the voting time for the general election to form the 21st National Assembly. After the crushing defeat of the conservative bloc, some far-right activists raised suspicions of ballot rigging. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Some conservative candidates who failed to win a seat, including Rep. Min Kyung-wook of the UFP, also made such allegations. But they faced criticism from other members of the UFP who said their claims lacked evidence. "The UFP should form a taskforce to eradicate ghost stories of ballot rigging and use it as an opportunity for the renovation of conservatives," Rep. Ha Tae-keung said on Facebook, Wednesday. "Raising such ghost stories of ballot rigging is the same as protesting against public sentiment." The UFP's Yoo Seong-min, the now-defunct conservative minor Bareun Party's 2017 presidential candidate, also called on far-right YouTubers to stop making such "groundless" claims of ballot rigging. "When you want to talk about such rigging, you need facts and evidence, but your accounts are not enough to claim the vote was rigged," he said during a televised debate Thursday night. "It is not good for the UFP to be affected by suspicions raised by some ultra-right YouTubers without evidence." He said the party may lose again in the next presidential election unless it desperately reflects on itself and finds the cause for its defeat. The National Election Commission also issued a press release in which it said such claims cannot be considered legitimate and it will open any relevant records and release data when there is a request through due process.
첫댓글백악관 청원내용: Under the title, "South Korea Elections rigged deliberately by ruling party and Moon Jae-in," the petitioner said that the difference in party support between ballots cast early and those cast on Election Day was 10 percent to 15 percent, while the figure was normally under 7 percent "한국의 선거가 여당과 문재인에 의해 조작되었다"는 제목하에, 청원자는 사전선거와 당일선거의 정당지지율 차이가 10 ~ 15%에 달했다고 말했다. 보통 정당지지율 차이는 7%이하였다.
첫댓글 백악관 청원내용:
Under the title, "South Korea Elections rigged deliberately by ruling party and Moon Jae-in," the petitioner said that the difference in party support between ballots cast early and those cast on Election Day was 10 percent to 15 percent, while the figure was normally under 7 percent
"한국의 선거가 여당과 문재인에 의해 조작되었다"는 제목하에, 청원자는 사전선거와 당일선거의 정당지지율 차이가 10 ~ 15%에 달했다고 말했다. 보통 정당지지율 차이는 7%이하였다.