A special counsel bill to investigate the National Election Commission and others over the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections passed the National Assembly's plenary session.
On the afternoon of the 30th, the National Assembly passed the "Act on the Appointment of a Special Counsel to Investigate Allegations of Infringement on Citizens' Suffrage, Including the Ballot Shortage during the 9th Nationwide Local Elections" with 226 votes in favor out of 228 lawmakers present at the plenary session.
The special counsel law was decided by bipartisan agreement, and 12 matters were set as subjects of investigation. They include allegations of infringement on suffrage due to ballot shortages; allegations of pushing ahead with ballot counting without suspension or preservation measures; procedural violations by the National Election Commission, such as reducing the minimum printing threshold for main ballots; as well as poor voting procedures, poor management of ballots, unauthorized neglect of election materials such as ballot storage boxes, violations of rules on managing official election documents and materials, and allegations of omission, downplaying, concealment, and cover-up in the process of reporting election accidents and suspicions.
In addition, dereliction of duty and abuse of authority by National Election Commission employees, allegations of delayed, concealed, or shielded investigations, and mismanagement of elections such as mismatches between the ballot production budget and printing and supply volumes were also included as subjects of investigation. The special counsel may investigate overseas junkets by National Election Commission employees, preferential or illicit hiring, operational corruption such as private contracts, suspicions of poor management and security of the election management system, complaints and accusations related to the 9th local elections, and cases newly identified during the investigation.
The ruling and opposition parties held last-minute talks over whether to investigate the National Election Commission's servers, but by including suspicions of poor management and security of the election management system as a subject of investigation, an investigation of the commission's servers also effectively became possible.
The investigation team may include up to five assistant special counsels, 70 special investigators, up to 20 prosecutors on assignment, and up to 70 assigned public officials excluding assigned prosecutors. Assigned public officials may be requested from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), and the Korean National Police Agency.
Within 20 days from appointment, the special counsel will prepare to perform duties, complete the investigation within 90 days from the day after the preparation period ends, and may extend the investigation twice by 30 days each if necessary.
Meanwhile, at the plenary session that day, the ruling and opposition parties elected lawmaker Kim Jeong-jae as chair of the Gender Equality and Family Committee. Kim had previously lost by one vote in an internal People Power Party primary against Yu Eui-dong for the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee chair. Afterward, lawmaker Lim Lee-ja, who had been elected at the time as chair of the Gender Equality and Family Committee, yielded the post, and Kim was finally elected through a plenary vote. Kim won 211 votes in favor out of 247 lawmakers present.