N. Koreans take part in voting rite
pyongyang — Millions of North Korean voters, including leader Kim Jong-un, went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new lineup of roughly 700 members for the next session of the national legislature, though the vote was more of an endorsement than a competitive contest.
Voters were presented with just one state-sanctioned candidate per seat and cast their ballots not to select but rather to show their approval or, at least theoretically, disapproval of that candidate.
The elections are for the entire Supreme People’s Assembly, which on paper is the highest organ of power in North Korea. Its delegates come from all over the country and all walks of life.
Under North Korean law, citizens can vote from the age of 17.
Voting began at around 10 am depending on the location and continued until late evening. Voters show election officials their ID cards to receive their ballot with the sole candidate’s name on it, which they cast in a private booth. If they approve, they simply put the ballot in the box. If they don’t approve, they cross the name out in in the same box.
But one official told The Associated Press that basically never happens. “No one votes against the candidate,” said Jin Ki Chol, the chairman of an election committee supervising a polling station at a cable factory in central Pyongyang. —