Former National Election Commission (NEC) Chairperson Roh Tae-ak, right, and acting NEC Chairperson We Chul-whan listen during a parliamentary hearing on election administration at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Aug. 10.YONHAP
The National Election Commission (NEC), still reeling from ballot paper shortages that disrupted voting in the June 3 local elections, also miscounted the number of ballot boxes and corrected the error a week after vote counting ended.
NEC data obtained by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye on Thursday revealed that the commission corrected 381 ballot box count records on June 10, 11 and 15.
The number of ballot boxes for a superintendent of education election, for instance, was initially entered as 80 — 10 times the actual eight — at a polling station in Yeomchang-dong, Gangseo District, western Seoul.
Six ballot boxes were incorrectly recorded as 66 in Geumho-eup, Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang, for a proportional representation provincial council election.
The discrepancies did not stop there. Just three ballot boxes were used for a mayoral and gubernatorial election in Jungnim-dong, Jung District, central Seoul, but the system listed nine — triple the actual number.
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye holds up a graph showing changes in voter turnout by time of day across 31 cities and counties in Gyeonggi during a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Aug. 4.NEWS1
In Toegye-dong, Chuncheon, Gangwon, the recorded number was double the actual count, with 24 ballot boxes entered instead of 12. Both errors were later corrected.
“First it was the vote counts, and now we have discovered that even the number of ballot boxes was entered incorrectly,” Rep. Kim said. “We are now at a point where trust has completely collapsed in the very figures that the NEC had insisted could never possibly be wrong.”
The NEC pushed back on Kim’s criticism and explained that the number of ballot boxes recorded in the system has no bearing on the number of votes actually received by candidates or their share of the vote.
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok speaks through a loudspeaker during a protest outside the Handball Gymnasium at Olympic Park in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on July 17.NEWS1
“An election administration with no oversight and no verification ultimately leads to election manipulation,” Rep. Kim continued. “Nothing should be off-limits in the special counsel investigation.”
Ballots ran out at some polling places, notably in Songpa District, southern Seoul, during the latest local elections on June 3. Voting was temporarily halted at some sites. The protest demanding an election do-over is being held in front of the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa District.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
