Seoulites go to polls today on free meals

By Kim Rahn

Seoul residents will determine the fate of the controversial free school lunch program through a crucial referendum today.

Some 8.38 million eligible voters can cast their ballots at 2,206 polling stations across the capital from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission (SMEC) said Tuesday.

At stake is not only whether the city will provide free school meals to all students or only to the poorer half, but also whether Mayor Oh Se-hoon will be able to keep his job.

The result of the vote will be a solid barometer of how the ruling and opposition parties push for welfare policies in the run-up to the general and presidential elections next year.

The commission will start counting ballots around 9 p.m. if it is confirmed that more than 33.3 percent of the voters (or about 2.79 million), which is the quorum to make the poll valid, participate in the poll. The result should be available around 11 p.m.

If the number doesn’t reach the quorum, it is ruled that both the options — free meal for all or for half — are scrapped.

The SMEC said it will crack down on any illegal voting activities.

“We are going to dispatch about 550 officials to voting stations to stem any illegal campaigning and other unauthorized activities,” an SMEC official said. “We expect the counting of ballots will be finished before midnight.”

As those opposing Oh and supporting the full-scale lunch program have campaigned to boycott the referendum, it is expected most vote participants will support Oh and thus once the turnout surpasses the quorum, the result will be in favor of the mayor.

The commission will announce the turnout in real-time through its website every two hours in the morning, and every hour in the afternoon until the vote ends.

Five to six ward office workers will manage the voting process at every polling station, while two members each from two representative civic groups supporting the two options will be voting witnesses.

Twenty-five ballot counting stations will be set up, one at each district.

On Tuesday, a day ahead of the voting, campaigns to promote or boycott the referendum peaked.

Groups encouraging people to participate in the vote, in support of Oh, said the chance to win the referendum will be high if the turnout reaches 20 percent by 10 a.m.

“Our strategy was to make as many voters as possible cast their ballots in the morning before going to work. We urged public organizations and private companies to allow their employees to come to work later than usual so they can drop by the polling station,” Ha Tae-kyeong, spokesman of the National Anti-Populism Union, said.

“As the turnout will be disclosed every two hours, citizens who didn’t plan to participate will come in the afternoon if they think the situation is going against their expectation,” he said.

Ha said campaigning is not allowed on the voting day but an individual is allowed to openly discuss his or her voting experience. “We’ll post pictures of polling stations on the Internet or other social network services to attract bloggers,” he said.

Groups boycotting the referendum, opposing Oh’s policy, urged people not to cast their ballots to annul the vote.

Members of a civic coalition rejecting the vote held one-man rallies at 1,515 exits at all the subway stations in Seoul.

Former Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker Lee Sang-soo sent a text message to DP members, asking each of them to send text messages about the vote boycott to 10 non-DP members.