The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to select its leader through a preferential voting system rather than a runoff system at its August national convention. Under the method, party members and the electoral college choose their first, second, and third preferences among candidates, determining the winner in a single round of voting.
The Democratic Party's National Convention Preparatory Committee held its third meeting Monday and resolved to adopt the preferential voting system for determining the party leadership winner. Rep. Lee Yeon-hee, who serves as spokesperson for the committee, said, "After discussing the two methods of preferential voting and runoff voting, we decided on the preferential voting system," adding, "The majority expressed their opinion in favor of preferential voting."
Under the preferential voting system, voters mark their first, second, and third preferences among candidates. If no candidate wins a majority in the first count, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated and their next-preference votes are redistributed to determine the winner. The final winner can be determined in a single round of voting without a separate runoff.
The committee also decided to introduce a youth supreme council member position at this national convention. However, detailed proposals, including the selection method, age criteria, and whether to apply a separate quota, will undergo further discussion by the youth future subcommittee and be resolved at the meeting on the 9th. For the preliminary primary method, a plan combining online voting by voting members and central committee members with a public opinion poll was discussed, but the final resolution was deferred.
The regional rotating primary schedule will be maintained as originally planned. Regarding requests to change the rotation schedule, which some candidates raised as a fairness issue, Rep. Lee said, "At today's meeting, everyone expressed their opinions, and it was decided not to change the results of the committee's first meeting." In addition, a plan to grant weighting to delegates and voting members in strategic regions was discussed, focusing on regions that have suffered consecutive defeats in the two most recent elections, with detailed criteria to be finalized at the meeting on the 9th.
Ahead of the meeting, committee chairman Lee Hak-young said, "We will take strong party-level measures against the use of derogatory terms toward one another or excessive slander that harms party unity during the national convention process."
