National Assembly Repeatedly Misses Opportunities for NEC Reform… Was There a Reason for Their Hesitation?

[Anchor]

It is not as if there have been no attempts to structurally reform the National Election Commission (NEC). Relevant bills have been consistently proposed in the National Assembly, but they have repeatedly failed to be processed and were ultimately scrapped. Critics point out that the National Assembly has missed legislative opportunities because it has been overly conscious of the NEC, which holds the authority to interpret election laws.

Reporter Ha Jeong-yeon has the story.

[Reporter]

Even back in 2022, when the "basket voting" controversy erupted during the presidential election, bills to reform the National Election Commission were proposed one after another in the National Assembly.

[Kim Gyo-heung / Democratic Party lawmaker (then-Chairman of the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee): I urge the NEC to take special care so that it can regain the public's trust as a constitutional institution worthy of the name. I am submitting the bills for collective consideration.]

In the 21st National Assembly, various reform bills were proposed, ranging from changing the NEC Chairperson to a full-time position, introducing National Assembly confirmation hearings for the Secretary-General—a ministerial-level post—to opening the auditor position, which had been held by internal personnel, to external candidates.

However, these bills remained stuck at the standing committee stage and were discarded upon the expiration of the National Assembly's term.

Even in the 20th National Assembly, bills aimed at improving the practice of having district court judges serve as chairpersons of local election commissions were proposed, but they failed to become law.

In particular, the issue regarding the structure where a Supreme Court Justice concurrently serves as the non-standing Chairperson of the NEC has been raised since the early 2000s. A bill to change this to a full-time position was proposed during the 17th National Assembly, but it failed to pass.

Some point out that these efforts have fizzled out every time because the National Assembly is wary of the NEC, which holds the power to interpret election laws.

An aide to a lawmaker on the Public Administration and Security Committee, which oversees the NEC, described the atmosphere by saying, "When election season arrives, we have no choice but to rely on the NEC's interpretation of election laws," adding, "The National Assembly is always the one in need, so we cannot help but be conscious of the NEC."

The argument is that the National Assembly has been passive in resolving issues with the NEC due to a subtle "superior-subordinate" relationship with the commission, which effectively acts as a "referee" during every election.

There are currently over 10 reform bills related to the NEC pending in the 22nd National Assembly, and voices are growing louder that this time must be different.

(Video reporting: Lee Seung-hwan | Video editing: Won Hyeong-hee | Design: Lee Jong-jeong, Jegal Chan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.