By Kim Rahn
A coalition of civic groups said it will ask a local court to decide on the legitimacy of a residents’ referendum on free school meals to be held in Seoul.
The coalition, comprised of progressive civic groups and members of five opposition parties, said Monday that it will also file an injunction to suspend the vote until the court’s decision is announced
The plan comes after they reviewed the list of signatures that a conservative civic alliance collected in order to hold the referendum to stop the current school meal program designed to provide free lunches to all students at elementary schools regardless of their parents’ financial status.
“We’ve reviewed about 75 percent of the list and found more than 140,000 false signatures and other irregularities. We confirmed that the city government orchestrated the signature collection. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon should take political responsibility,” a member of the coalition said in a media briefing in Seoul.
The group said it found 40,197 cases where the same handwriting was used in writing multiple names; 9,086 cases where signatures were unclear; and 4,104 cases where the names and signatures did not correspond.
“We even found names of a civic activist and a Guro council member, who oppose holding the vote, on the list even though they themselves didn’t write them. Seoul City should stop the vote process and investigate all the signatures,” the coalition member said.
He said they will ask a court to review whether holding the referendum is legitimate and to prevent a vote until a decision is made. They also plan to file a complaint against leaders of the signature collecting alliance for the alleged irregularities.
Even if the alleged 140,000 illegal cases are confirmed and the signatures are annulled, it is unlikely to affect the vote as there are still some 660,000 valid signatures collected, far above the 418,000, or 5 percent of eligible voters needed as the minimum number to hold the vote.
Mayor Oh, who wants to stop the current free meal program through the referendum, said in a meeting with the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) members in Seoul that voter turnout is likely to go beyond 33 percent, the minimum percentage required to make the referendum valid.
He sought support from lawmakers and ward council members belonging to the GNP, who pledged to encourage people to cast a ballot so that more than one third of eligible voters can participate.
In the meantime, the city government said that it also received 134,000 official objections from some 800 citizens about the signatures, such as signing by proxy, signatures by ineligible voters and multiple signatures by one person, during the review period between July 4 and 10.
A committee comprised of city officials, lawyers, professors and civic group members will look into the reported objections next week to decide whether to annul the alleged false signatures. After that, the city government will move to initiate the referendum at the end of this month.