Can identity now be verified with a mobile resident registration card at the Election Commission? The October 2026 amendment to the Election Commission Information Disclosure Rules

What changed

Article 15(2) of the Election Commission Information Disclosure Rules requires each level of the committee, when disclosing information under paragraph 1, to confirm that the person before it is the requester or that person's proper representative, by the identity documents listed in its items, unless no such confirmation is needed at the time of disclosure. In items 1 and 2, covering disclosure to the requester personally and to a statutory representative, the resident registration card is now worded as 'resident registration card (including the mobile resident registration card)'. The official reason gives the aim as reflecting the amendment of the Enforcement Decree and the Enforcement Rule of the Public Agency Information Disclosure Act, which widened the range of identity documents to include the mobile resident registration card, so that the law is applied uniformly in information disclosure work.

Item 3, covering disclosure to a discretionary agent, previously required the power of attorney in Form 8 together with the resident registration cards of the requester and the agent, or other identity documents. It now requires the power of attorney, the agent's resident registration card (including the mobile resident registration card) or other identity document, and a copy of the requester's resident registration card or a copy of another identity document. The official reason states that where information is disclosed to a discretionary agent, the requester's own status and the agent's proper authority are checked by a copy of the requester's identity document instead of the original.

The amendment also revises the Table and seven attached forms; the forms named in the amendment text include the information disclosure request form and the power of attorney form in Form 8 used with Article 15(2)(iii). The official reason describes the Table as tidying fee wording, adding electronic file conversion and providing that no fee is charged where an amount falls below units of 100 won, and describes the forms as adding guidance on bringing an administrative tribunal case or administrative litigation to the notice of an objection decision, adding a QR code for the information disclosure system to the request form, and updating the entries and notes. This note has the official summary only, not the wording of the Table or the forms.

What to read in the text

Addendum Article 1 puts the Rule into force on the day of promulgation, which is 23 October 2026. Addendum Article 2 is a transitional measure: despite the amended provisions, information disclosure request forms and the like received before the Rule came into force follow the prior provisions.

A file must therefore show the date on which the information disclosure request was received, and, where Article 15(2) is in issue, whether disclosure went to the requester, to a statutory representative or to a discretionary agent, and which document from the relevant item was produced. Requests already received before 23 October 2026 are checked under the earlier wording, under which item 3 required the power of attorney in Form 8 together with the requester's and the agent's resident registration cards or other identity documents, and the official reason's phrase that verification may now be made by a copy "instead of the original" suggests the requester's document previously had to be the original, although the earlier wording itself does not say so.

Questions for the legislature

Item 3 now calls for 'a copy of the requester's resident registration card or a copy of another identity document', while items 1 and 2 expressly include the mobile resident registration card; neither the amendment, the addendum nor the official reason says whether a printout or screen image of a mobile resident registration card is a copy of the card within item 3. Is such a printout accepted as 'a copy of the resident registration card'?

Addendum Article 2 keeps the prior provisions for 'information disclosure request forms and the like' received before the Rule took effect; neither the text, the addendum nor the official reason says which documents besides the information disclosure request form fall within the words 'and the like'. Which filings are covered by that phrase?

When to revisit

We revisit this note when the amended Table and the amended forms are read in their own wording, when the Enforcement Decree and the Enforcement Rule of the Public Agency Information Disclosure Act referred to in the official reason are read, or if a decision explains identity verification by copy under Article 15(2)(iii).