"Democratic Party Is Embarrassing!" Shocked Supporters of Lee Nak-yeon 'Strongly Protest' Will Election Result Rejection Work? [Han Seung-gon's Political Notebook]

Protest from Lee Nak-yeon Camp Over Vote Invalidity Rule for Candidate Mid-Withdrawal
"Objection to Invalid Vote Handling in Party Presidential Primary... Official Submission to Party Election Commission Planned"
"Clear Illegality... Withdraw Rounding Off!\" Strong Protest from Lee Nak-yeon Supporters

Lee Nak-yeon, a presidential primary candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering his policy speech at the joint Seoul rally for the selection of candidates for the 20th presidential election held on the afternoon of the 10th at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] "Re-vote!", "This is a clear illegal election!", "Is this even an election? The Democratic Party should reflect!"

Former Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Nak-yeon raised objections on the 10th regarding the presidential candidate primary results, which ended with candidate Lee Jae-myung securing a majority. Effectively declaring a 'refusal to accept the primary results,' Lee's supporters launched an online petition campaign. Additionally, dozens of supporters held a protest in front of the Democratic Party's central headquarters after the primary voting concluded that day.

Concerns are growing that internal strife (conflicts within the same faction) may arise ahead of the presidential election among Lee Nak-yeon's faction, pro-Moon (친문, Chinmun), and Lee Jae-myung's faction, rather than presenting a united front. However, Lee Nak-yeon's camp repeatedly emphasized that this is not a refusal to accept the primary results but a legitimate objection to protect democracy. Nevertheless, as the Democratic Party officially confirmed Lee Jae-myung as its presidential candidate, the conflict is expected to intensify.

Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, commented on the 11th regarding Lee Nak-yeon's camp's objection to the primary results, stating, "Our party officially confirmed candidate Lee Jae-myung as the 20th Democratic Party presidential candidate yesterday, and I delivered the recommendation letter."

During a visit to Daejeon National Cemetery with candidate Lee, Song told reporters, "Just as the Republic of Korea operates according to the Constitution, the ruling Democratic Party operates according to the party's constitution and regulations," emphasizing this point.

Song added, "These party rules were not created when I was party leader but were established during former leader Lee Hae-chan's tenure and passed at the party convention last August when former leader Lee Nak-yeon was elected," explaining, "The presidential election proceeded based on the special party rules passed by all party members during Lee Nak-yeon's election." Song's remarks are interpreted as a de facto rejection of Lee Nak-yeon's camp's objections related to the primary announcement on the previous day (10th).

Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province and the Democratic Party of Korea's 20th presidential candidate, is receiving congratulations from primary candidate Lee Nak-yeon at the joint rally held on the afternoon of the 10th at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ "Objection to invalid vote processing... Official submission to the party election commission planned"

Earlier, despite a landslide victory in the Democratic Party's third national primary voting, Lee Nak-yeon's camp failed to advance to the runoff and decided to raise objections to the party, claiming that the invalidation of votes for candidates who withdrew midway was mishandled.

After the primary concluded on the 10th, Lee Nak-yeon's camp held an emergency meeting attended by all affiliated lawmakers, stating, "We have repeatedly raised that invalidating votes for candidates who withdraw during the presidential primary contradicts the fundamental purpose of introducing a runoff vote," and "We have decided to officially submit an objection regarding the invalid vote processing in the presidential primary to the party election commission following the prescribed procedures."

In the third national and general party member voting announced that day, Lee Nak-yeon received 155,220 votes out of 248,880 total voters, recording a 62.37% vote share. Lee Jae-myung garnered only 28.3% (70,441 votes). Lee Nak-yeon's cumulative vote share rose to 39.14%, while Lee Jae-myung's dropped to 50.29%. With the runoff decision hinging on a 0.29 percentage point difference, Lee Nak-yeon's camp appeared to reference the invalidation of votes for candidates who withdrew midway (Chung Sye-kyun and Kim Du-kwan). According to Lee Nak-yeon's camp, if votes for these candidates had not been invalidated, Lee Jae-myung's final vote share would have been only 48.5%.

However, Lee Nak-yeon's camp insists this is not a refusal to accept the primary results. Park Kwang-on, the general headquarters chief of Lee Nak-yeon's camp and a Democratic Party lawmaker, said on the 11th, "There was a conflict between the invalid vote processing rule and the runoff vote guarantee clause, which nullified the runoff system," adding, "This is not a refusal to accept the primary but a legitimate objection to protect democracy."

Park appeared on MBC Radio's Kim Jong-bae's Focus and explained, "Even in soccer or baseball, referees can make mistakes, and objections are made using video replay systems," making this analogy.

Regarding Article 59, Paragraph 1, which clearly states that votes for candidates who withdraw midway are invalidated, Park countered, "Paragraph 1 states that votes for candidates who withdraw during the primary are invalid, but Paragraph 2 provides that if a candidate withdraws before voting, measures are taken to prevent voting," and added, "The truly invalid votes are those for candidate Kim Du-kwan, who withdrew before the Jeju vote. Since he had already withdrawn, votes cast for him are invalid."

Park emphasized, "Votes cast for withdrawn candidates are invalid, but invalidating votes cast before withdrawal conflicts with Article 60 (determination of the winner) of the party rules," and stressed, "This nullifies the runoff system. Legal experts also say the party's interpretation is incorrect."

Meanwhile, intense conflict is erupting among Democratic Party supporters over this issue. On the night of the 10th, supporters of Lee Nak-yeon gathered in front of the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, protesting the primary results. They shouted slogans such as "Withdraw the rounding-off," and "The Democratic Party is ashamed," expressing strong opposition.

On the night of the 10th, as former representative Lee Nak-yeon’s side decided to raise objections to the Democratic Party presidential primary results, which ended with candidate Lee Jae-myung’s majority victory, supporters of former representative Lee Nak-yeon gathered in front of the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, protesting the primary results.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ "The result is unlikely to change"

Meanwhile, broadcaster Kim Eo-jun said on the 11th on TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' regarding Lee Nak-yeon's camp's objection, "It is legally very difficult and politically impossible for the result to change."

Yang Ji-yeol, a lawyer who appeared that day to examine Lee Nak-yeon's camp's objection from a legal perspective, explained, "The Democratic Party's rules consider votes for candidates who withdraw during the primary as invalid. If a candidate who received 10 votes withdraws, it is considered that 90 people voted, and if 50 out of 90 votes are received, the vote share rises above 50%."

Kim emphasized that objections were also raised during the 16th and 18th Democratic Party presidential primaries, but the decision to invalidate votes for withdrawn candidates was upheld, saying the possibility of the court overturning the party's decision on invalid vote processing is "almost none."

He added, "There has never been a case where a decision made by the party's executive committee regarding a presidential primary candidate was overturned through administrative litigation, and above all, this objection arose after the primary started, so the result is unlikely to change."

He stressed, "No party changes the rules midway through a primary. No party does. If someone suggests changing the rules midway because it is disadvantageous to a specific candidate, who would agree? No party in the world allows rule changes. If there were concerns, they should have been raised and addressed before the primary started." Lawyer Yang also said, "Unless there is a clear violation of democratic procedures, courts generally do not intervene."