Opposition to Congressional Candidate at Around 0.1%
For the first time, a dissenting vote appeared in the 2023 North Korea’s local elections held on the 26th. The North Korean state-run media reporting on a dissenting vote in a North Korean election is unprecedented. Also, it is interpreted as a claim that the election was conducted “democratically.”
On the 28th, the Korean Central News Agency reported that the regulations governing the elections of representatives to the people’s assemblies at all levels resulted in the election of 27,858 individuals. This included workers, farmers, intellectuals, and service members as representatives to the people’s assemblies in provinces (municipals), cities (districts), and counties.
The agency further reported that the election witnessed a high level of participation, with 99.63% of all eligible voters participating. Only 0.37% of voters were residing abroad or at sea, and 0.000078% abstained from participating.
Of the voters, 99.91% approved and 0.09% disapproved of the candidates for representatives of the People’s Assemblies of provinces (municipal). Then 99.87% approved and 0.13% disapproved of the candidates for representatives of the People’s Assemblies of cities (districts) and counties.
North Korea has also widely publicized the election was conducted in a democratic process. They are implementing a system where two people compete for one representative candidate position for the first time.
However, analysis suggests that this election did not guarantee a secret ballot. Radio Free Asia (RFA) quoted a local source who said that they set up two ballot boxes, one green (for approval votes) and one red (for disapproval votes), to make it known who voted for which side.
By. Choi Yoon Sun
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