Preliminary Candidate Registration for Heads of Gun Governments and Gun Councils Begins on April 1

The National Election Commission (NEC) of the Republic of Korea said that the registration of preliminary candidates for Head of Gun Governments and Gun Council elections will begin on April 1. 

According to the Rules on the Management of Public Officials Elections, even though the start of registration is a national holiday, preliminary candidates could register from 9am to 6pm on April 1. However, in the case of other elections for which preliminary registration has already begun, preliminary candidate registrations were not taken on April 1. 

To register as a preliminary candidate, the following should be submitted to the relevant local Election Commission:

• Documents that prove the person is eligible to run in the relevant election including a certificate of residence and a family relation certificate. 

• Criminal records.

• Academic records.

• Deposit that equals 20% of the final candidate registration deposit. This equals 2 million Korean won ($1,840 USD) for Head of Gun Government elections and 400,000 Korean won ($370 USD) for Gun council elections.

Criminal and academic records submitted by preliminary candidates can be found on the NEC homepage (http://info.nec.go.kr) or on the Election Information mobile application.

During the preliminary candidate campaign period, candidates may:

• Establish a campaign office.

• Distribute business cards. 

• Use campaign sashes or markers.

• Make direct campaign phone calls.

• Send campaign material to a maximum 10% of households in the constituency. 

The NEC announced that these preliminary candidate registrations are the last step before all preliminary candidates begin campaign for these local elections in earnest. The NEC asks the political parties and candidates compete fairly with feasible policies and commitments and ask voters to not be misled by falsehoods or slander and to carefully examine the qualities and abilities of the candidates.​