The Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on the 22nd that every provincial and regional election committee has publically announced official voter lists as the election for the 12th delegation of the Supreme People’s Assembly approaches.
The KCNA reported that the lists of voters were prepared in accordance with “detailed enforcement regulations in the Supreme People’s Assembly election law, and the lists include all citizens who hold the right to vote and who reside in the country”.
In North Korea, each People’s Unit registers citizens who are over 17 years old and regularly submits them to election sites such as district offices or election locations.
The election committee checks voter participation by comparing the person’s public I.D. with voter-registration lists on the day of the election. In North Korea, failure to vote is considered a political crime and is subject to investigation by the National Security Agency; hence everyone on voter lists has to participate in elections.
According to the National Assembly election law, only those who are receiving labor re-education by court order or those who have no capacity to vote are exempt.
In preparing the voter registration lists, the People’s Safety Agency of each level figures out the numbers of those who are missing or deceased. In order to raise the voter participation rate, long-term missing people are at times labeled as deceased.
The delegates election to the Supreme People’s Assembly is supposed to be held once every five years, delegates’ elections for the Provincial People’s Assemblies and the County People’s Assemblies are held once every four years. The 11th delegates’ election for the Supreme People’s Assembly was held in 2003, but the 2008 election had to be postponed, which was in accordance with the regulation stating, “the term is automatically postponed if the election is not held on time.”
The voter-registration lists include the voter’s name, gender and birth date. Preparation of the voter-registration lists and public announcement are made 15 days before election day.
The North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly Presidium (chairperson: Kim Young Nam) held an assembly meeting on the 6th of last month and decided to hold the 12th delegates election on the 8th of March. After the 11th Supreme People’s Assembly delegate election that was held in September, 2003, Kim Jong Il was endorsed as the National Defense Commission Chairman at the first delegates meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly. Therefore, it is almost certain that Kim Jong Il will once again be re-endorsed as the National Defense Commission Chairman after the election in March, if he wishes to so be.
