Amendment to Article 237 of the Public Official Election Act

log date: 2025-9-1

A partial amendment to the Public Official Election Act has been proposed in South Korea, raising concerns about serious harm to the public interest.

The bill(amendment), co-sponsored by twelve lawmakers, was proposed on August 19, 2025. The notice period for its enactment ends on September 3, 2025. If there are few objections, it will be referred to a subcommittee of the Public Administration and Security Committee for deliberation.

Source: The Legislative Information System in South Korea

The scope of the proposed new provision is overly vague and broad. Simply pointing out injustices or flaws in the current Public Official Election Act and electoral system could result in the punishment of innocent citizens, a serious infringement on citizens' freedom of expression.

For instance, the falsity of messages contained in the banners must be verified through investigation. However, the National Election Commission (NEC) reportedly refuses to disclose any election-related data. Even in the difficult process of verifying ballots through procedures like freedom of information requests, the procedures and Supreme Court decisions fail to dispel the doubts of citizens who requested verfication. Consequently, concerns are growing about whether the necessary investigation can be conducted smoothly before the new law is added and punishment is determined.

Below is a copy of a post is from a Korean citizen explaining why she opposes the bill.

"The right way to prevent allegations of election fraud is not to suppress expression, but to strengthen the transparency and fairness of the election system. We must reduce controversies over election fraud by improving the election system through disclosure of voting and vote-counting procedures, verification of electronic systems, and increased citizen participation. Banning expression only suppresses the symptoms without addressing the root causes of the problem."

"This Act shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation."

The rationale for the proposed bill as follows:

Twelve lawmakers proposed an amendment to Article 237, Paragraph 1, Item 4 of the Public Official Election Act to establish a legal basis for punishing acts that interfere with the National Election Commission's normal performance of duties or seriously undermine pubic trust in the election system by persistently spreading false information about early voting, mail-in voting, and vote-counting procedures.

The penalty for violating Article 237 of the Public Official Election Act is imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine of not less than 5 million won ($5,000) and not more than 30 million won ($30,000).

Contrary to the necessity outlined by the lawmakers who proposed this unjust amendment, the evidence uncovered by citizens reporting election fraud appears to be quite credible. In consequence, even citizens who initially disbelieved the claims of election fraud gradually began to point out that the National Election Commission's poor handling of ballot boxes and the opacity in mail-in voting were major problems.