Low voter turnout could hurt legitimacy of local elections

By Lee Hyo-sik

Staff reporter

The June 2 local elections are feared to post a record-low voter turnout amid widespread apathy among the electorate. The people will today pick some 4,000 governors, mayors, councilors and education chiefs.

Koreans tend to be less interested in local elections, while showing greater interest in national ballots of choosing the President and legislators.

Experts say that local elections are much more important to voters than nationwide polls because the former exerts a greater influence on their daily lives, adding that Korean adults should pay more attention to electing candidates who put the interests of the public before their own.

They also say political parties and candidates should come out and discuss matters that are important to the welfare of the local community they represent, rather than engage in a series of ideological disputes, in an effort to bolster the voters' interests and make them go to the polls.

To increase the voter turnout, they suggest that the government extend the campaign period and carry out a more active publicity campaign so that voters are better informed about contenders for various municipal government offices, while expanding an absentee voter program to allow more individuals to exercise their right to vote.

Absence of policy debates

"Normally, the voter turnout for local elections is lower than those of presidential and parliamentary polls. The trend is the same in other countries. But the problem here is that the turnout is much lower than it should be," Yonsei University Professor Yang Seung-ham said. "Korean voters should pay more attention to the upcoming local polls and select better qualified candidates because it will greatly affect their everyday lives."

Yang said there have not been much policy debate among hopefuls of municipal administration posts, adding the sinking of the naval ship Cheonan, the one year anniversary of former President Roh Moo-hyun's death and other countrywide issues have been dominating the local elections.

"The problem is that most candidates promote similar campaign pledges and fail to differentiate themselves from others. Additionally, the local elections should reflect the public opinion toward the Lee Myung-bak administration," the professor said. "But I do not think this is the case. Given all these factors, the turnout will likely be even lower than those of the past polls."

Some fear that the low turnout could undermine the legitimacy of the June 2 elections, bringing about more conflicts between the electorate and municipal office holders after the election.

"Only about 46 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot in the 2006 elections. The turnout could be lower than that. If so, it will definitely hurt the representation of governors and other local administrators," said Hwang Young-min, coordinator at People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy.

Hwang said those elected will likely care more for the interests of people voting for them, rather than those of the entire electorate, if the turnout is low.

To encourage more people to go to the polls, Prof. Yang said the government should bolster a publicity campaign for the local elections and provide voters with more information on candidates and election procedures.

"Voters will cast eight ballots this time, which will discourage them from showing up at the polling stations. Additionally, many voters do not know about the contenders, particularly those seeking to become superintendents of education, due to a lack of information and a short campaign period. The media should provide more election coverage," Yang said.