Presidential election within 60 days after Yoon's dismissal... "June 3rd likely"

Following the Constitutional Court's decision to dismiss former President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 4th, there is speculation that June 3rd is likely to be the date for the early presidential election.

At 11:22 a.m. on the same day, the Constitutional Court unanimously decided to dismiss former President Yoon with all eight justices agreeing.

Article 68, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution states, 'In the event the presidency becomes vacant or the president loses qualification for other reasons, a successor shall be elected within 60 days.' The Public Official Election Act, Article 35, also stipulates that 'an election or re-election due to a presidential vacancy shall be held within 60 days from the date the reason for the election is confirmed.'

The acting president must announce the election date within 10 days of the Constitutional Court's impeachment decision.

The election law stipulates that 'the election date must be announced by the president or acting president no later than 50 days before the election.'

Accordingly, Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is expected to designate a day between May 24 and June 3 as the presidential election date before the 14th.

While the presidential election date in general situations like term expiration is set for a Wednesday, there is no specific regulation on the day of the week for an early election due to a presidential vacancy. The early election (19th presidential election) held on May 9, 2017, following the dismissal of former President Park Geun-hye, was also on a Tuesday.

However, the weekend and early voting schedule are expected to be variables.

If the election date is set for a weekend, there are concerns about low voter turnout, making it difficult to hold the election on May 24-25 (Saturday-Sunday) and May 31 (Saturday) or June 1 (Sunday). Early voting is conducted for two days starting five days before the election date, and if May 28 (Thursday) and 29 (Friday) are set as the election dates, early voting would include the weekend of the 24th and 25th, potentially lowering voter turnout.

Therefore, it is widely speculated that the election date could be one of the days on Monday or Tuesday, May 26-27 or June 2-3.

The political community considers June 3 (Tuesday) to be likely. Given the unexpected early election, it is deemed desirable to delay the election date as much as possible within the legal deadline to fully guarantee the voting rights of voters and candidates.

Moreover, having already experienced the 'Thursday-Friday early voting' and 'Tuesday main voting' schedule in the 2017 early election, it is considered easier from an election management perspective to hold the election on June 3 compared to other dates.

Meanwhile, the National Election Commission begins the registration of preliminary candidates for the 21st presidential election on the day former President Yoon's dismissal is decided. If the election is held on June 3, the official candidate registration will take place for two days from May 10 to 11. The period from the day after the registration deadline on the 12th to the day before the election on June 2 is designated as the election campaign period.

Incumbent metropolitan mayors running for the presidential election must resign 30 days before the election date. If the election is held on June 3, metropolitan mayors must make their decision by the 4th of next month.

Kim So-yeon, Hankyung.com reporter sue123@hankyung.com