A fair election is the foundation of democracy. It is a country’s intrinsic duty to set up a fair and transparent voting system and provide clarifications so that everyone can accept the outcome when in doubt. It is also the state’s responsibility to improve the election system to prevent unnecessary suspicions in advance. If these essential obligations are not fulfilled, doubts about the elections can grow into a fundamental distrust of a regime and the democracy itself.
Controversy over electoral fraud is rising both in the US and the Republic of Korea (ROK). The presidential election in the US in November 2020 and the legislative election in the ROK in April 2020 are the primary concern. The electoral systems of the two countries are different. Every state in the US has its own election system. Nevertheless, the controversy over election fraud in these two countries seem to share similarities.
First of all, votes sent via the postal system are controversial. In the early voting in South Korea and the absentee and postal voting in the US, voters receive ballots before the election day and mark them. The votes are then sent to the election office through the postal system. There are accounts of fraud committed in the process of delivery.
The electronic counting system is also problematic. In Korea, ‘투표지분류기’, translated as a ‘ballot sorting machine’, has an optical scan counting function. It is suspected to be vulnerable to hacking and software fraud. In the US, the Dominion Voting System used in some states causes the same concern.
The bias of social media and big tech companies is another issue. Facebook, Twitter and Google are being criticized for operating unfavorably to President Trump. Before the presidential election, Facebook and Twitter blocked articles that explained Hunter Biden’s special connection with China. In South Korea, Naver, the nation’s biggest online portal and search engine service company, is suspected of manipulating information in favor of the Moon government. For example, during the 2017 presidential election in South Korea, which brought Moon Jae-in to power, Naver was accused of intentionally blocking information unfavorable to the candidate Moon Jae-in. Yoon Young-chan, a vice president of Naver at that time, was nominated as a chief staff member of the Blue House after the election.
Worries about China’s intervention are also being raised. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is now facing a regime crisis due to the US-China trade war. Those who doubt election integrity suspect the CCP actively intervened in both elections to support the candidates who would work in their favor.
Distrust in the mainstream media (MSM) is deepening. In particular, CNN, which has been cited most frequently by South Korean media, is pointed out as a hotbed of fake news. However, mainstream South Korean media still publish CNN articles without mentioning those challenges. After Moon came to power, KBS and MBC, Korea’s two biggest broadcasting companies, were dominated by pro-government officials and accused of being government’s sycophant. Distrust in the mainstream media is not new in South Korea. For instance, numerous people have been taking to the streets since President Park’s impeachment. However, MSM has been distorting the so called Taegeukgi rallies which undermined their trust in the MSM.
What will be the outcome of this election fraud controversy? No one knows the future. Will it end as a delusion of those who make claims about election fraud? Or will the powers behind the scenes that manipulate the US and the world be revealed? However, one thing seems to be clear. Those who are convinced of election fraud take this issue as a serious threat to the US and democracy. Many people continue to come out with unprecedented testimonies. In case these claims are not adequately addressed in court, resistance will be inevitable. On the other hand, the opposition takes election fraud just as a conspiracy and views President Trump himself as a threat to law and order. Whatever the truth is, the clash between these two groups seems to be unavoidable in one way or another. Further, the outcome of this case in the US will unquestionably have a significant impact on South Korea since it has similar challenges.
Specific cases are still being discussed whether they could be considered as evidence of election fraud or not. At times, these discussions develop into emotional fights. Arguments on evidence are so broad and diverse that it is not feasible to address them all in this short article. Interestingly, in both countries, democrats are suspected of being involved in election fraud. But fair election is not a left and right issue. Unless we adaquately address allegations of election fraud, it will be more difficult in the future to persuade the losers in an election, whoever it may be.
When this controversy started in South Korea, Truth Forum requested the ROK government to: 1) clarify allegations; 2) guarantee people’s right to verify the vote; 3) improve the current election system to prevent unnecessary suspicions. It seems to be a minimum requirement to restore trust in our election system and democracy. Yet, this basic request is far from being realized.
