Korean opposition Democratic Unified Party is opening up it's leadership election process to ordinary citizens and allowed them to vote through their mobile phones. It's an experiment that could reshape the election culture in Korea.

According to the DUP, more than 643,000 citizens have applied to be part of its electoral college, a turnout that surprised party officials who predicted a maximum figure of 250,000 to 300,000.

Another merit of mobile voting is that it enables political parties to accurately reflect public sentiment in electing their leaders. Hence, they are moving to use it in selecting their candidates for the parliamentary and presidential elections.

Ultimately, mobile voting is likely to accelerate the transition of party politics to what is called citizen politics by opening the way for massive participation of citizens in political processes. This transition will be also fueled by the penetration of social networking services, which contributes to stimulating young electorate's interest in politics.

Yet voting on the cell phone is not without its negatives. For instance, it can make a leadership race of a political party a popularity poll, as citizens participating in the vote are likely to choose candidates based on the familiarity of their names rather than a scrutiny of their policies or qualifications.

Mobile voting can also distort the outcome of a poll if a certain political group tells its followers to become members of the electoral college and vote for the candidate of its choice.

These and other adverse effects, however, do not outweigh the merits of mobile voting. Hence, we believe it is the way domestic political parties should go in future. Yet it would be better if they can minimize its negative aspects.

Korean Herald: Voting by Mobile Phone