Changwon City Council passed a resolution on the 5th to urge the amendment of the Public Official Election Act to restore the principle of stamping advance voting ballots, with 21 out of 35 attending members voting in favor. [Photo: Changwon City]

The city councils of Changwon and Gimhae in Gyeongnam Province have successively passed resolutions demanding improvements to the advance voting system. The core of these resolutions is the need to restore the principle of election officials personally stamping advance voting ballots instead of using pre-printed stamps.

While local council resolutions do not have legal binding power, their political significance is clear. This marks a formal demand from local political circles to address and institutionally review the ongoing debates surrounding the election system, rather than continuing to evade them.

Recently, discussions surrounding the election system have been persistent in political circles. In particular, the public debate between Lee Jun-seok and Jeon Han-gil garnered significant attention for bringing issues previously discussed on the periphery into the public sphere.

Debates on election systems are always sensitive topics. Attitudes that deny elections themselves with baseless claims are not beneficial to democracy. However, treating the very act of raising issues about the election system as a taboo cannot be considered a healthy democratic attitude either.

In a democracy, elections are the core procedure that determines the legitimacy of the political system. As such, the election system must not only be fair but also be perceived as fair.

The resolutions from the Changwon and Gimhae city councils are precisely targeting this point. They are calling for an examination of whether the method of printing election official stamps on advance voting ballots is appropriate in terms of election management responsibility and transparency.

It is true that some People Power Party lawmakers have raised issues concerning the election system. However, the People Power Party has not officially announced any plans to pursue amendments to the Public Official Election Act at the party level. In that regard, these resolutions hold significance as a case where local political circles have officially placed the election system on the agenda, going beyond individual politicians' concerns.

However, one question remains.

The Gimhae City Council deliberated and passed a resolution on the 10th urging the amendment of the Public Official Election Act to restore the principle of stamping advance voting ballots. [Photo: Yonhap News]

“Should Changwon and Gimhae City Councils be the only ones raising this issue?”

Elections are not a problem confined to a specific region. Trust in the election system is the foundation of national democracy.

Therefore, it is appropriate for city, county, and district councils in other regions to also express their positions on the issues of fairness and transparency in the election system.

Local councils are political institutions representing their constituents. If such institutions remain silent in the face of election system debates, it may be an evasion of responsibility rather than neutrality.

We at Hanmi Ilbo do not view the issue of fraudulent elections as a mere political allegation. This is because elections are the bedrock of democracy, and if that trust is shaken, the entire political system can be affected.

What is needed is therefore not an attitude that suppresses allegations for political reasons, nor an attitude that denies elections themselves without basis. What is needed is verification and institutional improvement.

The city councils of Changwon and Gimhae have already stated their positions.

Now, it is the turn for other local councils to respond.

Trust in elections is not built on declarations.

It is built on verification and responsible politics.