Seoul City and its 25 district offices operate a "participatory budgeting" system that lets residents take part directly in the budget-drafting process. But a ChosunBiz review found there is no residence verification step in the online voting used to choose participatory budgeting projects. In effect, "anyone" can vote even if they are not a resident.
Each district is offering prizes to boost turnout. Critics say someone could target the prizes and cast duplicate votes across multiple districts, or a specific group could intervene in an organized way.
◇Seventeen Seoul districts vote on participatory budgeting through "mVoting"
Participatory budgeting is a direct democracy system in which residents take part directly in the budget-drafting process and contents to reflect the projects they want. It began in Brazil in 1989 and spread to the United States, Canada, and Europe. In Korea, implementation of the participatory budgeting system was made mandatory under the Local Government Finance Act enacted in 2011.
Selection of participatory budgeting projects begins with each local government receiving applications for public projects residents want. After reviews by relevant departments, the local government narrows the list and conducts an online resident vote. Projects chosen by the vote are reviewed by the local government and, after a local council resolution, are allocated budget.
In Seoul, the "Seoul mVoting" (mvoting.seoul.go.kr/) platform is widely used for online voting. Last year, Seoul City and 17 district offices held participatory budgeting votes on this site. Eight districts, including Gangnam District and Jongno District, used their own systems.
◇No address verification for voters… duplicate voting across multiple districts also possible
But the mVoting site has no process to verify whether a voter is a resident living in the district. Anyone can vote without creating a site account, as long as they complete mobile phone identity verification. Even those who do not pay resident tax or property tax to a district can intervene in its budget-drafting process.
Seongbuk District on the 9th held a participatory budgeting vote to choose 8 out of 28 projects totaling 931.8 million won. The district limited eligible voters to Seongbuk residents or workers at business sites within the district, but it did not verify residence or the location of establishments. The first question of the vote asked voters to select their neighborhood (dong) of residence, but one could press any option and still proceed to vote.
It is also possible to vote in multiple districts with a single mobile phone number. After finishing the Seongbuk participatory budgeting vote, this reporter immediately joined the Mapo District vote and was able to cast a ballot without issue. It took less than three minutes to finish both the Seongbuk and Mapo votes.
The civic participatory budgeting survey Seoul City conducted in Aug. was the same. Although the target was "any Seoul citizen," in reality, anyone who simply agreed to the Seoul citizen attestation on the first screen could participate in the vote even if they were not a Seoul citizen.
◇No address verification for voters… duplicate voting across multiple districts also possible
But the mVoting site has no process to verify whether a voter is a resident living in the district. Anyone can vote without creating a site account, as long as they complete mobile phone identity verification. Even those who do not pay resident tax or property tax to a district can intervene in its budget-drafting process.
Seongbuk District on the 9th held a participatory budgeting vote to choose 8 out of 28 projects totaling 931.8 million won. The district limited eligible voters to Seongbuk residents or workers at business sites within the district, but it did not verify residence or the location of establishments. The first question of the vote asked voters to select their neighborhood (dong) of residence, but one could press any option and still proceed to vote.
It is also possible to vote in multiple districts with a single mobile phone number. After finishing the Seongbuk participatory budgeting vote, this reporter immediately joined the Mapo District vote and was able to cast a ballot without issue. It took less than three minutes to finish both the Seongbuk and Mapo votes.
The civic participatory budgeting survey Seoul City conducted in Aug. was the same. Although the target was "any Seoul citizen," in reality, anyone who simply agreed to the Seoul citizen attestation on the first screen could participate in the vote even if they were not a Seoul citizen.
◇Only 1.4% of Seongbuk District's population joined the participatory budgeting vote
There are concerns that lax management like this could undermine the fairness of the vote. In fact, the Seongbuk participatory budgeting vote ran for five days from Sept. 9 to 14, and the final number of participants was 5,951. That is 1.4% of Seongbuk's total population of 424,129. With such low participation, a group with a particular purpose could intervene in an organized way and sway the results.
Some districts drew 100 voters to receive Starbucks coffee coupons. Some suggest there are citizens who may vote mechanically just to get the prize.
The government's national petition system faced similar controversy in the past. Under the Moon Jae-in administration, the Blue House national petition platform allowed participation via social media accounts such as Twitter or Facebook, drawing criticism that foreigners could participate and that "duplicate consents" were possible. The National Assembly's public consent petition system introduced later strengthened identity verification.
However, since the site launched in 2014, Seoul's mVoting has not put in place separate safeguards. A city official said, "We do not impose residence restrictions so that citizens with ties to the area through commuting or schooling can also participate," adding, "If we strengthen verification, turnout may drop, so keeping it open aligns with the intent."
Experts say that "at least some safeguards are necessary," even to uphold the purpose of the system. Choi Jin-hyeok, an emeritus professor in the Department of Urban Autonomy Convergence at Chungnam National University, said, "In a situation of sharp partisan confrontation, there is a risk that specific interest groups could intervene in an organized way," adding, "There is also a possibility that groups around political circles could trade votes for quid pro quo benefits and get involved."