Main opposition party`s illegal recruiting scandal spreading

A scandal over the illegal recruiting of the “electoral college” by the main opposition Democratic United Party for the April 11 general elections is spreading across the country.

The scandal was triggered by the suicide of a Gwangju resident, leading to a series of revelations on the illegal soliciting of mobile voters, a core part of the electoral college. This is tainting the good intentions of the voting public –-returning the right to recommend candidates to the people.

Some say the “thumb (mobile) revolution,” the greatest contributor to the pro-Roh Moo-hyun party leadership including chairwoman Han Myeong-sook, has returned as a threatening boomerang. Others fear that illegal voter recruiting will be even worse on the last day of recruitment.

Some claimed that the Gwangmyeong-gap constituency of Gyeonggi Province sent officials a text message encouraging them to join an electoral college in direct violation of the Public Official Election Act and party policy, which bans officials’ participation in party votes. Kim Jin-hong, a Democratic United Party candidate who will run for the constituency, claimed that Rep. Baek Jae-hyun, the incumbent in Gwangmyeong-gap and former Gwangmyeong mayor, sent 1,300 Gwangmyeong officials a message saying, “Please register because it does not violate law and you can save time because you vote on mobile devices.”

After Kim protested, Baek sent two more messages canceling the previous one. Kim filed a complaint to the party’s fair election committee against Baek, saying, “He manipulated officials because he felt he would be disadvantaged by the resident’s suicide vis-a-vis the recruitment of voters in Dong-gu, Gwangju.”

Another suspicion over illegal recruitment was raised in Naju and Hwasun, South Jeolla Province. Incumbent Democratic United Party Rep. Choi In-gi claimed that Park Sun-won, a fellow party member and candidate, is under investigation for illegally recruiting voters by using personal information. Park’s camp was caught by police when it asked individuals to give their authentication number. Choi demanded that Park apologize, saying, “He knew that proxy voter registration is illegal and definitely harmed the party.”

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