Lee Jong-won of Sisa Tapa Raises Allegations of Opinion Poll Manipulation… “The Secret of 84 Votes Per Person”

YouTube channel New 탐사 raised suspicions that Sisa Tapa's Lee Jong-won engaged in illegal manipulation during the Democratic Party's internal elections. New 탐사 hosts claimed that Lee Jong-won induced participation in national opinion polls in a manner favorable to a specific candidate, urging the Democratic Party to take strict measures. New 탐사 emphasized that such actions severely undermine the fairness of internal party elections and that the Democratic Party should file a complaint immediately after watching this broadcast.

New 탐사 hosts claimed that after candidate Jung Cheong-rae's crushing defeat in the Honam primary, his side focused on the 30% national opinion poll, along with the Seoul-Gyeonggi regional primaries, as a key strategy. They pointed out that Jung Cheong-rae's side placed the highest importance on the national opinion poll and expected to win, and that Lee Jong-won also stated that the results could be overturned in the final opinion poll.

Lee Jong-won emphasized the importance of opinion polls in his broadcast, stating, "Tomorrow, in Seoul, we must win by the largest possible margin and then just overturn it with the last national opinion poll." New 탐사 interpreted this statement as showing a determination to stake everything on the opinion poll results. Indeed, candidate Jung Cheong-rae lost in the party member and delegate votes but won only in the national opinion poll.

According to New 탐사's analysis, candidate Jung Cheong-rae lost to candidate Kim Min-seok in the party member and delegate votes in the Seoul regional primary, but he won against Kim Min-seok (49.3%) with 50.7% only in the national opinion poll. This result was pointed out as an abnormal reversal that contradicted other voting methods. New 탐사 added that the non-disclosure of the opinion poll sample size and survey institutions, as per the primary rules, further exacerbates the problem.

New 탐사 claimed that an analysis of the weighting of the Democratic Party's national convention opinion poll showed that one response from a national opinion poll participant was equivalent to approximately 84 votes from party members with rights. This figure, calculated by reflecting the 30% opinion poll weighting and actual voter numbers, demonstrates that the opinion poll's weighting is significantly higher than that of party member votes. Based on this calculation, New 탐사 raised doubts about the effectiveness of the 'one person, one vote' principle advocated by the Democratic Party.

New 탐사 criticized candidate Jung Cheong-rae's assertion that this national convention would be the 'first election to choose a party leader on a one person, one vote basis' as actually being a 'deception.' This is because the weighting for national opinion poll respondents was set much higher than for actively participating party members. New 탐사 analyzed that one opinion poll vote was effectively worth 160 party member votes, pointing out that this weighting structure undermines the 'one person, one vote' principle.

New 탐사 re-emphasized that when calculated based on a 50% voter turnout, one national opinion poll response was equivalent to approximately 84 votes from party members with rights. They argued that 160 party members would be needed to outweigh one opinion poll respondent, questioning whether this truly aligns with the 'one person, one vote' principle. This calculation has sparked controversy that the abnormal weighting of national opinion polls could distort the will of party members.

New 탐사 pointed out that the supreme council opinion poll results, which showed candidates Lee Sung-yoon, Han Min-soo, and Choi Min-hee in the top ranks, were 'strange' and far removed from the overall rankings. They specifically emphasized that candidate Lee Sung-yoon being the only one to rank first in the internal party opinion poll was abnormal. New 탐사 claimed that these results contradict natural opinion poll trends and clearly indicate organized intervention biased towards the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction.

New 탐사 pointed out a problem in the method of calculating percentages for the pro-Lee Jae-myung and anti-Lee Jae-myung factions in the supreme council national opinion poll results by excluding candidates Im Mi-ae and Kim Byeong-wook. They explained that this method resulted in figures of 54% for the pro-Lee faction and 46% for the anti-Lee faction, which was then used to interpret that while the pro-Lee faction lost the party leader election, they won overall. New 탐사 argued that the actual proportions may have been distorted by the exclusion of specific candidate groups and that adjustments are needed. They estimated that the difference would have been similar to the party leader election in reality.

New 탐사 stated that they detected evidence of Sisa Tapa host Lee Jong-won encouraging real-time participation in national opinion polls during a broadcast on August 14th, coinciding with the last day of the Honam party member ARS vote. During the broadcast, Lee Jong-won mentioned that one national opinion poll response was equivalent to 80 party member votes, making remarks that encouraged voting favorable to a specific candidate. New 탐사 pointed out that such actions distort opinion poll results and are a serious problem that undermines the 'one person, one vote' principle.