Council of Europe - Venice Commission

KOREA - Public Offical Election Act

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Article 108

(Prohibition of Publication of Public Opinion Poll)

(1) No one shall publish or report, by quoting, the details or results of a public opinion poll (including a mock voting or popularity poll; hereafter the same shall also apply in this Article) that makes it possible to predict the approval rating of each political party or the successful candidate in an election, during a period between six days before the election day and the closing time of balloting on the election day.

(2) No one shall conduct a public opinion poll on an election using the means based upon models similar to the ballot paper or under the name
of the candidate (including any person who intends to be a candidate; hereafter the same shall also apply in this Article) or political party (including the preparatory committee for formation of a political party; hereafter the same shall also apply in this Article) within 60 days prior to the election day (the time when the reason for holding the election becomes definite in the case of a special election for which the reason for holding the election has become definite after 60 days prior to the election day) to the election day: Provided, That the same shall not apply to a public opinion poll under Article 57-2 (2)

(3) If any person, other than the following persons, intends to conduct a public opinion poll (including public opinion poll not for the purpose of
publishing or reporting) on an election to make it possible to predict the approval rating of each political party or the successful candidate, during a period between 180 days before the election day and the closing time of balloting on the election day, he/she shall report to the competent election commission on the matters specified by guidelines for public opinion polls on elections, such as the purposes of a public opinion poll, the size of each sample, the area subject to a public opinion poll, the date, time, and method of a public opinion poll, and questions in full detail, by not later than two days before the commencement date of the public opinion poll.

1. An institution or organization specializing in public opinion polls, which is requested by a third party to conduct a public opinion poll (excluding cases where such an institution or organization conducts a public opinion poll on its own, without any request from a third party);

2. A political party (including a preparatory committee for the formation of a new political party and a policy research institute under Article 38 of the Political Parties Act);

3. A broadcasting business operator defined under Article 2 of the Broadcasting Act;

4. The business operator of a newspaper defined under Article 2 of the Act on the Promotion of Newspapers, etc. or the business operator of a periodical defined under Article 2 of the Act on Promotion of Periodicals, Including Magazines, which is distributed nationwide or throughout a City/Do;

5. The business operator of a news agency defined under Article 2 of the Act on Promotion of News Communications;

6. An Internet mass medium managed and operated by a business operator specified in any provision of subparagraphs 3 through 5;

7. An Internet mass medium accessed by not less than 100,000 users daily on average during three months immediately before the end of the preceding year.

(4) If an election commission finds that the contents of a report submitted in accordance with paragraph (3) fail to meet the guidelines for public opinion polls on elections, it may request to supplement the report before conducting the relevant public opinion poll. If a person has an objection to a request for supplementation, he/she may file the objection, in writing, with the competent committee for the deliberation on fairness in public opinion polls on election.

(5) A person who conducts a public opinion poll with regard to an election shall disclose the name, address or telephone number of the opinion polling agency or organization and the pollster’s identity to each polled person, select persons to be polled, who can represent all the classes subject to the poll, but shall not commit any of the following acts:

1. Practices in which questions are made of biased vocabulary or sentences to a particular political party or candidate;
2. Practices in which those to be polled are urged to give answers, or where questions are made to lead them to give answers according to the intention of the inquiring person or where the views of those polled are distorted;
3. Practices in which inquiries are made in ways that amusement or other gambling spirit is incited;
4. Practices in which the name of those polled or the contents implicating it are disclosed.

(6) When the results of a public opinion polls on an election are published or reported, the name of client, institution or association of the public opinion poll, the method of selecting those polled, the size of each sample (including the size of each sample by age groups and by gender), areas polled, the dates or method of polling, the error rate of samples, response rates, questions, the method applied for calibrating errors in the size of samples by age groups and by gender subject to the poll, etc. shall be also published or reported; the institution or association conducting public opinion poll on an election shall keep for a period of six months after the election day all those materials which are related to the public opinion poll, including necessary material to evidence credibility and objectivity of polling, such as polling plans, selection of those to be polled, sampling, making of questionnaire, and analysis of outcomes, and collected answer sheets and results analysis materials, etc.

(7) When an institution or organization that has conducted a public opinion poll with regard to an election intends to publish or report the results of the opinion poll, it shall register the details of the matters specified by guidelines for public opinion polls on elections in the web-site of the central committee for the deliberation on fairness in public opinion polls on election, such as the polling plan for the relevant public opinion poll, the selection of persons to be polled, sampling, the preparation of questionnaires, and the analysis of results.

(8) No one shall conduct any of the following activities: <Newly Inserted by Act No. 12393, Feb. 13, 2014>

1. Publishing or reporting the results of a public opinion poll conducted to predict the approval rating of each political party or the successful candidate in an election during a period between 180 days before the election day and the closing time of balloting on the election day, without registering the details thereof in the web-site of the central committee for the deliberation on fairness in public opinion polls on election in accordance with paragraph (7);
2. Conducting a public opinion poll that makes it possible to predict the approval rating of each political party or the successful candidate in an election for the purpose of publishing or reporting without following the guidelines for public opinion polls on elections.

(9) In any of the following cases, the election commission having jurisdiction over the relevant constituency may request an institution or organization
that has conducted a public opinion poll to submit data kept pursuant to paragraph (5) in relation to the public opinion poll, and the institution or organization so requested shall comply with such request without delay:

1. Where a political party or candidate files a written objection against the objectivity and reliability of the published or reported outcomes of the opinion poll;

2. Where a reasonable ground exists to believe that a person violated this Act in relation to a published or reported opinion poll.

(10) No one shall conduct a public opinion poll on an election by telephone in the nighttime (referring to hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. the following
day).

(11) The procedures for filing a report on a public opinion poll or an objection and for requesting to submit data and other necessary matters shall be prescribed by Regulations of the National Election Commission.