The Democratic Party of Korea's preparatory committee announced on July 9 that it will assign a 5% weight to the valid voting results from Daegu, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam during the upcoming party convention. This measure aims to mitigate the potential drawbacks of a one-person, one-vote system, which, while reflecting majority opinions, has raised concerns about neglecting the views of specific regions and generations.
Lee Yeon-hee, the committee's secretary, spoke with reporters at the National Assembly, stating, "This regulation will only be effective for this party convention."
Additionally, the committee has decided to implement a youth supreme committee member system. Lee noted, "The decision was made unanimously by the committee members," adding that one of the five elected supreme committee members will be chosen separately. The composition of the electorate will follow the same rules as those for selecting the party leader and supreme committee members.
Furthermore, she elaborated that if there are four or more candidates in the preliminary election for the youth supreme committee member, a preliminary election will be held to select three candidates, with the candidate receiving the most votes winning through a one-person, one-vote method.
Lee also mentioned that the number of winners from the preliminary election has been set at three for the party leader and eight for the supreme committee members, with the order of the preliminary election results remaining confidential.
However, the committee expressed that there is a prevailing opinion that implementing a preference voting system would not be considered a violation of party rules. The preference voting system is currently under review by the supreme committee.
This system allows voters to list their top three preferred candidates on the ballot. If a candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes in the first round, they are declared the winner. If no candidate achieves a majority, the votes are counted for the next preferred candidates. Some analysts suggest that this method may favor certain factions within the party.
As the party convention approaches, former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, lawmaker Song Young-gil, lawmaker Ko Min-jeong, and former Gangjin County Council Chair Kim Bo-mi have declared their candidacies. There are also speculations that former leader Jeong Cheong-rae will soon announce his candidacy.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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