Uncontested winners: record-high 509 candidates win elections by default

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By Kang Seung-woo

While most candidates who ran in Wednesday's local elections labored to appeal to voters, 509 did not have to because they didn't have any opponents to compete with.

According to the National Election Commission, 7,616 candidates registered for the local elections to compete for 4,125 seats that included 17 mayoral and gubernatorial seats as well as education superintendents and posts for numerous local councils, but a record 509 secured wins by running unopposed.

Compared with four years ago, the figure amounts to an over-five-fold increase from 89.

Taking a closer look, 107 candidates who ran for Seoul's district council, comprised of 373 members, were guaranteed to be elected without a vote, while the race for the Seoul Metropolitan Council also saw two uncontested winners ― for the first time in eight years.

By party, all but one candidate for the Jeju education council belong to the two major parties, with 282 from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and 226 from the ruling People Power Party (PPP).

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Candidates for education superintendents and education councilors are not nominated by parties.

By region, Seoul saw a collective 121 uncontested winners, while North and South Gyeongsang provinces and North and South Jeolla provinces, traditional strongholds for the PPP and the DPK, respectively, had a combined 280.

The uncontested elections are being criticized as a consequence of having a de facto two-party system, which presents a severe disadvantage to minor parties. Even the minor opposition Justice Party, which has six National Assembly seats, is failing to appeal to voters.

In addition, critics also claim that it violates voting rights, as constituencies lose the opportunity to verify public figures who work for their communities through the local elections.

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