Elections in North Korea

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A propaganda poster in Pyongyang with the slogan "Let's all vote yes!" ("모두다 찬성투표 하자!")

If the voter wishes to cross off the name of the candidate it must be done with a red pen next to the ballot box.

Elections in North Korea are held every four-to-five years for the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), the country's national legislature, and every four years for Local People's Assemblies.<ref name=pk>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=parlunion4>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Each candidate is preselected by the North Korean government and there is no option to write in other candidates, meaning that voters may either submit the ballot unaltered as a "yes" vote or request a pen to cross out the name on the ballot. Critics argue that North Korean elections are show elections which lack competition and allow the government to claim a veneer of pseudo-democratic legitimacy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A person's vote is not kept anonymous, and those who cross off the name on a ballot are often subject to legal and professional consequences. According to official reports, turnout is near 100%.<ref name="pk" />

All seats are won by candidates approved in advance by the ruling party, with the vast majority of approved candidates coming from the ruling party itself.<ref name="reuters">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Failed verification In 2010, the founding and ruling Workers' Party of Korea held 87.5% of the seats, with 7.4% for the Korean Social Democratic Party, 3.2% for the Chondoist Chongu Party, and 1.9% for independent deputies.<ref name=parlunion5>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ProcedureEdit

In reply to a question put forth by Michael Marshall, Li Chun Sik of North Korea stated at a meeting of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) of the Inter-Parliamentary Union:<ref name="parlunion18-19">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

While candidates could be nominated by anyone, it was the practice for all candidates to be nominated by the parties. These nominations were examined by the United Reunification Front and then by the Central Electoral Committee, which allocated candidates to seats. The candidate in each seat was then considered by the electors in meetings at the workplace or similar, and on election day the electors could then indicate approval or disapproval of the candidate on the ballot paper.{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
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Only one candidate appears on each ballot.<ref name="votes">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="99percenters">Template:Cite news</ref> Elections are nominally conducted by secret ballot, although in practice the voting process affords no secrecy for dissent. Voting is mandatory and turnout is habitually near 100%.<ref name="time_Insi">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Members of the Supreme People's Assembly are elected to five-year terms, and meet for SPA sessions up to ten days per year.<ref name=parlunion>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Supreme People's Assembly elects a standing committee known as the Standing Committee, which exercises legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session which in practice is all but a few days of the year. It also elects the President of the State Affairs Commission, the country's head of state and highest state office, and the premier, the country's de jure head of government.<ref name="Eur2002">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2023, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly amended and supplemented North Korea's election law.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Minju Choson, the newspaper of the cabinet and the SPA Standing Committee, stated that North Korea would implement a primary-like system in some constituencies, fielding two candidates to pick the nominee in the single-candidate main elections for People's Assemblies at every level.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The candidates would be reviewed for qualifications such as loyalty and "revolutionary mindset".<ref name=":0" /> Previously, the candidates were solely picked by the WPK, and this change would mark the first competitive elections in North Korea since 1948.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The local elections would also drop using the voting system where the voter would cross off the candidate's name to vote against them, switching to using two different colored ballot boxes for “yes” and “no” votes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Local electionsEdit

Local elections have been held since 1999.<ref name="bbc._Nort">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The people elect representatives to city, county, and provincial people's assemblies in local elections every four years.<ref name=pk/> The number of representatives is determined by the population of each jurisdiction.<ref name="dailynk">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2023, the introduction of a two-candidate method in some localities, with a primary election to elect the final candidate for the local assembly in these areas, commenced as a trial method.

Regarding this, scholar Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul stated that "They have a dual system: there is a mayor/governor, technically elected (but actually appointed), and there is a city/province party secretary. It is the latter who has real power, but mayor/governor can be important in some cases as long as he knows his proper place and does not challenge the Workers' Party of Korea secretary."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CriticismEdit

The elections have been variously described as show elections or a political census.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="defectorcensus">Template:Cite news</ref> Seats are uncompetitive as all candidates are chosen by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea.Template:Updateinline<ref name="reuters"/><ref name="parlunion18-19"/><ref name="99percenters"/> Because of the near 100% turnout, elections double as unofficial censuses. The inminban neighborhood watch-style organization reportedly watches the elections to identify and investigate no-shows.<ref name="time_Insi"/>

South Korean news reporter, Dae Young-kim, claims that there are separate boxes for "no" votes.<ref name=AlJazeera>Template:Cite news</ref> According to him, voting against the official candidate, or refusing to vote at all, is considered an act of treason, and those who do face the loss of their jobs and housing, along with extra surveillance.<ref name=AlJazeera/>