A bill to amend the Public Official Election Act to add three basic councilors in the Incheon area passed a plenary session of the National Assembly.
The ruling and opposition parties held a plenary session on the afternoon of the 28th and passed the amendment to the Public Official Election Act with 234 in favor, 0 against and 12 abstentions out of 246 lawmakers present.
This amendment to the Public Official Election Act is a follow-up measure to the newly added Yeongjong District in Incheon. The statutory number of basic councilors for the basic local government is seven. The ruling and opposition parties decided to add three lacking councilors to preserve the seven basic councilor seats for Yeongjong District.
In Incheon, the total number of basic councilors for the 2026 local elections was set to increase from 122 to 126, but the demand for council seats arising from the separation of Yeongjong District and other factors was not properly reflected. As a result, the three areas of Seo District, Namdong District and Jung District in Incheon were instead facing a reduction in the number of basic councilors.
Bae Jun-young of the People Power Party, who delivered the explanation proposing the bill at the plenary session, said, "We need to reasonably adjust the number of basic council seats to properly guarantee the representativeness of the newly launched autonomous district," adding, "If left as is, it could undermine residents' representativeness and the equality of voting value."