Election

A core institution of democracy in which members of a community elect representatives or leaders by vote, whose fairness determines the legitimacy of a political system.

Election

Overview

An election (選擧, election) is a system in which the members of a given community express their will through voting in order to choose representatives or leaders. In modern democracy, elections are the core mechanism for realizing popular sovereignty and granting legitimacy to governing power, and elected representatives bear political responsibility to the voters. Accordingly, how freely and fairly an election is conducted becomes the most important indicator for gauging the quality of a country's democracy.

Key Details

Functions of Elections

  • Selection of representatives: peacefully deciding who will represent the interests of the many.
  • Granting legitimacy: power formed through elections obtains popular approval.
  • Checks and replacement: judging misrule (失政) during a term in office and peacefully replacing a government.
  • Imposing political responsibility: those elected are evaluated on their performance at the next election.
  • Civic education and participation: the electoral process promotes social debate on public agendas.

Constitutional Principles of Elections

The Constitution of the Republic of Korea stipulates in Articles 24, 41, 67, and elsewhere the principles of universal suffrage, equal suffrage, direct suffrage, and secret suffrage, and also embodies the spirit of free elections. Universal suffrage means imposing no restrictions based on property, gender, education, and the like, while equal suffrage means that the value of each person's one vote must be equal. Direct suffrage is a method in which voters choose representatives directly without an intermediate electoral college, and secret suffrage guarantees that the content of a vote is not exposed to anyone.

Types of Representation

  • Majority/plurality system: a system in which the top vote-getter is elected, including single-member districts and runoff voting. It has low representativeness and produces many wasted votes, but government formation is stable.
  • Proportional representation: seats are allocated according to a party's share of the vote. Representativeness is high, but there are concerns about a proliferation of parties and unstable coalitions, which are compensated for by a threshold clause (e.g., 3–5%).
  • Mixed system: a method that combines district and proportional representation, exemplified by elections for the National Assembly of Korea and the German Bundestag.
  • Ranked-choice voting / single transferable vote: a method in which voters rank candidates to determine the winner.

Electoral Process

The process proceeds in the order of: announcement of the election date → preparation and public inspection of the electoral register → registration of candidates → election campaigning (with period limits) → early voting and main voting → vote counting → confirmation of the elected → assumption of public office. At each stage, the National Election Commission manages and supervises, and the Public Official Election Act governs campaign methods, donation activities, broadcast debates, and political funds.

Major Elections in the Republic of Korea

  • Presidential election: single five-year term, a single nationwide constituency.
  • National Assembly election: four-year term, composed of district members and proportional representation members (300 seats in total as of the 22nd National Assembly).
  • Local elections: every four years, metropolitan and basic government heads, metropolitan and basic council members, and superintendents of education are elected together.
  • By-elections: held when a vacancy or loss of office occurs.

Suffrage

The Republic of Korea grants the right to vote to citizens aged 18 or older, and also provides voting opportunities to overseas nationals and those staying abroad. Restrictions on the right to vote should be kept to a minimum and limited to cases prescribed by law.

Latest Trends

The 2024 election for the 22nd National Assembly (April 10) recorded a final turnout of 67.0%, and as the ruling party suffered a crushing defeat, the structure in which the ruling party is outnumbered by the opposition (여소야대) was reinforced. In the U.S. presidential election of November 5 of the same year, Donald Trump succeeded in winning re-election, resulting in the Republican Party taking control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In South Korea in 2025, following the Constitutional Court's decision on April 4 to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, the 21st presidential election was held early on June 3, recording a turnout of 79.4%, the highest since 1997. This is a case showing that voter participation can actually rise in a situation of political crisis.

Institutionally, regulation of AI and deepfakes emerged as a key issue. The Public Official Election Act, amended in January 2024, prohibits election campaigning using deepfakes from 90 days before election day and strengthened punishment for the distribution of false videos. In addition, discussions continue on expanding early voting, improving overseas voting procedures, and introducing electronic and online voting, and debates on electoral system reform are also active, including the controversy over satellite parties, the effectiveness of the linked proportional representation system, larger electoral districts, and enhanced proportionality. Political participation by the younger generation, entry barriers for minor parties, and the transparency of political funds also remain major tasks.

Related Topics

  • [[Democracy]]
  • [[Political party]]
  • [[Voting]]
  • [[Public Official Election Act]]
  • [[Constitution]]
  • [[Suffrage]]