By-election debate splits public and parties as ballot shortage fallout continues

Public opinion on holding a full re-election in the wake of the ballot shortage that marred the June 3 local elections is nearly evenly split, a new poll shows. The Democratic Party of Korea is urging caution, while the People Power Party is divided three ways on the issue.

A Gallup Korea survey of 1,002 adults aged 18 and older, conducted June 9–11, found 44 percent in favor of a full re-election and 48 percent opposed.

Opinion diverged by generation, however. Voters in their 20s and 30s leaned toward holding a new election, while those 40 and older were predominantly against it.

Among respondents aged 18 to 29, 67 percent supported a re-election, as did 62 percent of those in their 30s. Support flipped among older age groups: 56 percent of respondents in their 40s opposed a re-election, rising to 52 percent among those in their 50s and 63 percent among those in their 60s.

Among self-identified People Power Party supporters, 62 percent backed a re-election and 33 percent opposed it. Among Democratic Party supporters, the numbers were reversed — 28 percent in favor and 65 percent against.

Gallup Korea said the tilt toward a full re-election among voters in their 20s and 30s likely reflects a generational emphasis on procedural fairness over outcomes.

Respondents also weighed in on the nature of the ballot shortage itself. A majority — 67 percent — viewed it as a case of poor election management and a violation of voting rights, while 25 percent called it evidence of illegal electoral interference or an attempted fraudulent election. Eight percent declined to offer an opinion.

Satisfaction with the local election results was also low. Only 28 percent said they were generally satisfied with the outcome, while 60 percent said they were not.

Among those dissatisfied, the ballot shortage was cited most often as the reason, at 18 percent, followed by concerns about election fraud at 13 percent and broader problems with the election process or poor management at 6 percent.

The survey was conducted via telephone interviews using randomly selected virtual mobile numbers. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. The contact rate was 42.9 percent and the response rate was 11.3 percent. Full methodology is available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

Political parties are also divided on the re-election question.

The Democratic Party, including its leadership, has largely maintained a cautious stance, saying the matter should be left to the courts. Within the People Power Party, the picture is more fractured: party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and his allies are calling for a full re-election, while younger lawmakers are split between advocating a selective re-election and urging restraint — leaving the party with three distinct internal positions.

Under the Public Official Election Act, a by-election is held when an election is ruled wholly or partially invalid, or when a winner withdraws, dies or has their election nullified before taking office.

Under Article 224 of the Public Official Election Act, a re-election can only be ordered if a causal link is established between a violation of election rules and the outcome of the vote. As a result, elections have rarely been invalidated in South Korean history.

During the 16th general election, two constituencies — Guro-eul and Dongdaemun-eul — did have their results voided, but only after courts found that organized mobilization of voters or the number of fraudulently registered residents on the winning side exceeded the margin of victory, directly affecting the result.

Against that legal backdrop, People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won on Thursday introduced a bill to amend the Public Official Election Act that would allow election results to be nullified whenever a significant procedural flaw is found, regardless of the vote margin. The proposed amendment would invalidate all or part of an election result if a serious procedural defect — such as a ballot shortage — is confirmed, without requiring proof that the flaw changed the outcome.