[News Terms] What Is the 'Presidential Runoff Voting System' Claimed by Lee Jae-myung?

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is holding a New Year's press conference at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The presidential runoff voting system is a voting method in which, if the candidate with the most votes in the first round does not secure a majority, the top two candidates compete in a runoff to determine the winner.

The winner in the runoff receives the absolute majority (more than half) of the total votes. In other words, more people support the winner than oppose them, thereby securing representativeness. It also reduces the number of 'wasted votes' cast for losing candidates.

South Korea's current presidential election system is a simple plurality system. Regardless of whether a candidate obtains a majority, the candidate with the most votes wins. This is why opposition groups argue that it fails to secure the people's representativeness.

Since 1987, the only president to receive more than 50% of the vote was former President Park Geun-hye (51.5%). Presidents Roh Tae-woo (36.6%), Kim Young-sam (42.0%), Kim Dae-jung (40.3%), Roh Moo-hyun (48.9%), Lee Myung-bak (48.7%), Moon Jae-in (41.1%), and Yoon Seok-youl (48.6%) have all faced controversies regarding representativeness.

For this reason, the political sphere has continuously raised the issue of introducing a runoff voting system. At the 2016 presidential election, then-Justice Party floor leader Roh Hoe-chan and in 2017, then-Bareunmirae Party lawmaker Chae Yi-bae each introduced bills to amend the Public Official Election Act centered on the introduction of a runoff voting system, but these were automatically discarded. Former President Moon Jae-in also proposed a constitutional amendment in 2018 that included a four-year presidential term with re-election and the introduction of a runoff voting system, but it failed due to insufficient votes for approval.

In other countries, many have adopted runoff voting systems, including France, Poland, Austria, Turkey, Slovenia, Mongolia, Russia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Ukraine. In Bolivia and Ecuador, a runoff is not held if a candidate receives over 40% of the vote and leads the nearest rival by more than 10%. In Argentina, a candidate is declared elected if they receive more than 45% of the vote.

On the other hand, due to various factors, even if support for a particular candidate increases, that candidate may be disadvantaged. There are also drawbacks such as increased burden from two rounds of voting and the risk of autocratic governance due to securing majority support.

To reduce these drawbacks, some countries implement preferential voting systems, where voters rank candidates in order of preference, and a majority winner is determined through counting preferences. Australia, Italy, Belgium, and Ireland are representative examples.