The Jeonbuk State Election Commission said on the 22nd that it filed a police complaint against preliminary candidate A and B, who assisted A, on suspicion of sending a large number of text messages to voters ahead of the 9th nationwide local elections, in violation of the Public Official Election Act.
They are suspected of having sent about 1 million campaign text messages to voters 12 times over three months starting in December last year, before registering as a preliminary candidate, using an automatic simultaneous transmission method. Article 59 of the Public Official Election Act says the number of times text messages may be sent by automatic simultaneous transmission may not exceed eight in total, and only one phone number reported to the election commission may be used.
An official at the Jeonbuk election commission said, "Indiscriminate transmission of text messages not only disrupts voters' daily lives but also violates the principle of equal opportunity for campaigning as set by law," and added, "Voters who witness illegal campaigning should call 1390 without an area code to report it."