헌법적 가치를 훼손한 ‘6·3 선거 부실’, 근본적 체질 개선이 해답이다 > K-wave Trends

Rep. Na Kyung-won defines this incident as not just a collection of mistakes, but a serious injustice that directly violates constitutional values. The case of numerous voters who had to give up voting due to lack of ballots implies serious illegality in that the right to vote, which is the foundation of democracy, was violated, regardless of whether it ultimately affected the outcome. Rep. Na criticized the current situation in a strong tone, saying that if he had been the mayor-elect of Seoul, he would have declared re-election immediately on the spot, emphasizing that the effectiveness of an election comes from procedural legitimacy, not the difference in votes. This is a sharp warning to the current election management system that is buried in consequential vote calculations and overlooks procedural justice.

The amendment to the Public Official Election Act proposed by Rep. Na contains specific alternatives to resolve these procedural contradictions. The current law recognizes an election as invalid only when it is proven that a violation of election regulations directly affected the election results, which is pointed out to be an unreasonable structure that shifts the burden of proof after the fact to the voters. Therefore, the key is to establish a legal basis that can completely or partially invalidate the election, regardless of the result, if the right to vote is blocked due to reasons attributable to the National Election Commission. In addition, by extending the election appeal period from the existing 14 days to within 30 days from the date of the election decision, there appears to be an intention to strengthen institutional safety measures to enable sufficient verification and response to poor elections.

Voices for the systematic dismantlement of the National Election Commission and reconstruction of governance are also a key part of this controversy. Rep. Na strongly criticized the National Election Commission for monopolizing all rule-making, practical execution, and post-audit authority and turning it into an omnipotent sanctuary that even refuses external inspection. Therefore, it is argued that there is an urgent need for a comprehensive reorganization, such as delegating the National Election Commission's constitutional management functions, as well as practical execution tasks such as voting and counting, to other agencies and establishing an external independent audit organization. This reflects the demands of the times that the National Election Commission should no longer remain as an organization that is busy covering up its own mistakes, but should be reborn as a new transparent management system that the public can trust.

Fundamental doubts about the election method itself and solutions for improvement were also presented. In particular, in order to eliminate distrust in the transfer of ballot boxes that arises during the outside pre-voting process, a plan was discussed to abolish the off-premise pre-voting system and conduct intra-precinct pre-voting only one day before the main vote. In addition, it is argued that transparency in elections should be maximized by establishing the principle of same-day voting and on-site vote counting. This shows Representative Na's belief that the life of elections lies in 'flawless transparency' rather than speed, and suggests that in order to restore trust in representative democracy, fairness must be prioritized rather than existing convenience.