**[Election Commission Hiring Scandal] Political Circles: “The Election Commission Cannot Continue Like This”**
In light of the Constitutional Court’s decision on the 27th of last month that the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) cannot audit the Election Commission (EC), both legal and academic circles have contended that this ruling is difficult to accept. They insist on the need to reform the EC. Professor Emeritus Sim Jiyoun of Kyungnam University, who previously served as the president of the Korean Political Science Association, noted that the recent lax management and staff hiring corruption at the EC necessitate a major overhaul. Critics argue that the EC’s lack of initiative towards external audits and self-regulatory measures cannot be overlooked simply because it is a constitutional independent body. The BAI’s audit revealed 878 violations in 291 career recruitments conducted by the EC over the past decade with not a single instance free of violations.
Despite this, just a day after the Constitutional Court’s decision, the Democratic Party proposed an amendment to the BAI Act on the 28th of last month to exclude the EC from the BAI’s audit scope. The amendment proposed by 12 Democratic Party lawmakers, including Representative Jeon Yong-gi, aims to add the EC to the list of bodies exempted from the BAI’s audit scope under the BAI Act. While there are claims that the omission of the EC from the exclusion list was intended to include it in audits, the ruling party has criticized the Democratic Party for trying to shield the EC from audits by proposing this legislative change. In response, Representative Jeon Yong-gi stated that the EC, as an independent constitutional body, must have its status guaranteed. The Democratic Party described the Constitutional Court’s decision that the EC is not subject to BAI audits as a “very meaningful ruling” but did not comment on the 878 recruitment violations revealed by the BAI audit.
Conversely, the People Power Party plans to introduce a bill to establish a special auditor to temporarily audit the EC. With the EC facing allegations of mismanagement and nepotism in election operations, as well as suspicions of political contact using a so-called ‘second phone’ by a senior EC official, there is a call for a supervisory body. The People Power Party advocates for legislative changes to strengthen congressional oversight of the EC and considers institutionalizing the monitoring and supervision of the EC and the Constitutional Court potentially through constitutional amendments.
Relatedly, Representative Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party suggested in a Facebook post on the 1st that a national investigation into the EC is necessary to uncover the full scale of corruption, emphasizing the need for institutional measures allowing citizens to properly monitor and check the EC and the Constitutional Court as part of constitutional discussions. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated on the 2nd that the situation where the EC emphasizes only its independence, becoming an “unchecked kingdom,” must be normalized. He suggested opening the position of the EC chairperson to election and administrative experts and amending laws to enable congressional oversight of the EC. Former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon emphasized that the constitution created the EC as an independent body to perform well and not for its members to be complacent and suggested expanding the BAI’s audit scope to include the EC through constitutional amendments.
The People Power Party plans to convene the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee on the 5th to conduct urgent inquiries related to the BAI’s audit of the EC. They also intend to introduce a confirmation hearing system for the head of the Central Election Commission, a minister-level position. Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong remarked that the current state of the EC is so corrupt that expecting self-regulation is unrealistic. Ju Jin-woo, chairman of the People Power Party’s Legal Advisory Committee, commented on Facebook on the 2nd that while election management is necessary in South Korea, managing the EC is even more critical at this point, criticizing the Constitutional Court’s overly hasty exclusion of the EC from the BAI’s audits.
In response to the BAI’s audit results, the EC stated that it has “significantly improved” issues in personnel and audit areas, specifying that exam committees are now 100% composed of external members and have introduced recusal procedures if an exam committee member is a relative of a candidate.