Constitutional Court Upholds Election Law Provision Challenged by Former Lawmaker Shin Young-dae

The Constitutional Court has ruled that the relevant provisions of the Public Official Election Act, which stipulate that an election can be invalidated due to a campaign manager's crimes, are constitutional. On May 21, the Constitutional Court decided by a 6-3 vote that the said provisions do not violate the Constitution.

This decision followed a constitutional appeal filed by Shin Young-dae, a former lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, after his election was invalidated due to the final conviction of his campaign manager for election law violations, questioning the constitutionality of the related legal provisions.

The court determined that acts committed by a campaign manager, even before their official appointment, can be considered as actions to help the candidate win, and thus are related to the candidate. Consequently, the court decided that the legal provision which invalidates the election of a winning candidate if their campaign manager receives a confirmed prison sentence does not contravene the Constitution.

As Article 265 of the Public Official Election Act remains in effect, election campaign managers' actions that directly impact a candidate's election can lead to the invalidation of the election results. With this decision, former lawmaker Shin Young-dae received a negative legal outcome concerning the invalidation of his election.

The six justices who voted for constitutionality emphasized the need to strictly penalize election crimes to protect the foundation of the electoral system. Three justices presented dissenting opinions arguing for unconstitutionality.