A bill aimed at abolishing early voting and extending the main voting period to two days has been introduced within the People Power Party (PPP).
According to the National Assembly's bill information system Tuesday, PPP Rep. Park Dae-chul sponsored an amendment to the Public Official Election Act containing these provisions. The bill drew the participation of 24 PPP lawmakers, including Song Eon-seog, Yoo Sang-bum, Kim Seong-won, Kwon Young-jin, Shin Dong-wook and Kim So-hee, as well as independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon, totaling 25 lawmakers.
The amendment includes provisions to abolish the early voting system, extend the election period from "one day" to "two days," and reintroduce the absentee voting system.
In his explanation of the proposal, Park pointed out that "the early voting system, introduced to improve voters' access to the polls, has produced side effects exceeding its legislative benefits, and the current system, leaning too heavily toward convenience, has repeatedly undermined fairness and reliability, which are the essence of elections."
He added that the bill seeks "to minimize room for irregularities and fraud by abolishing the early voting system, while reintroducing the absentee voting system for those unable to vote on election day and extending the main voting period from one day to two days, thereby securing voters' right to participate and the fairness of elections."
