Similar Constitutional Complaint in 2023
"Election Fraud Theory" Also Raised
On the morning of the 4th of last month, the day of the impeachment trial verdict for President Yoon Sukyeol, police forces were controlling access at the main gate of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps
The Constitutional Court has dismissed an injunction request to block the early voting for the 6·3 presidential election.
According to legal sources and Yonhap News on the 22nd, the Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed the injunction request for suspension of effect filed by Lee Hosun, a law professor at Kookmin University (Judicial Research and Training Institute, 21st class), on the 12th, with all seven justices in agreement. The reason for the dismissal was stated as: "This injunction request has no grounds and is therefore dismissed."
Professor Lee Hosun also filed a constitutional complaint on October 26, 2023, claiming that the current early voting system is unconstitutional. He argued that it is possible to identify voters through barcodes on ballot papers in early voting, which violates the principle of secret ballots. However, the National Election Commission maintains that "it is technically impossible to identify voters through barcodes."
Additionally, Professor Lee argued that the time gap between early voting and the main voting day leads to voters casting their ballots with unequal information, which violates the principle of equal elections. He claimed that depending on when a person goes to vote, their political orientation may be revealed, turning what should be a secret ballot into a public declaration of political beliefs, thus infringing on freedom of conscience.
Previously, in October 2023, the Constitutional Court dismissed and rejected a similar constitutional complaint. Echoing the National Election Commission's stance, the Court stated, "It is difficult to assume that the serial numbers in barcode format, which are hard to recognize by the naked eye, would violate the principle of secret ballots by enabling someone to memorize a barcode and identify a specific voter's ballot."
Professor Lee Hosun also mentioned the so-called "election fraud theory." He claimed, "It has been revealed that even non-existent phantom voters could be registered as legitimate voters," and argued, "The mere existence of such controversy clearly infringes on the claimant's rights as a sovereign citizen and the right to pursue happiness."
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