From mishandling of ballots to last-minute Yoon-Ahn merger

Voters fill in ballots for Korea's presidential election in booths at a polling station in Hwagok-dong, Gangseo District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

National Election Commission blamed for leaving room for dispute over election results

By Nam Hyun-woo

In the last stretch of the campaign period, criticisms on the National Election Commission (NEC) have overshadowed the election itself, as its improper handling of ballots filled out by COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine during the early voting session on Saturday triggered nationwide concerns that the election might be compromised.

Though the NEC issued multiple statements officially apologizing and pledged to improve its election guidelines, the commission has yet to offer valid explanations about irregularities during the early voting period for COVID-19 patients.

During the specified period, patients and people quarantining were given their ballots, which they filled in ― in separate polling booths ― and election workers collected their ballots in unofficial containers rather than inserting them into official voting boxes in front of the voters.

However, complaints were mounting because the ballots were collected in paper boxes or garbage bags, and some of them were left unattended at some polling stations. There were also 14 cases where voters were given ballots which were already filled in.

The NEC initially said those revealed ballots would be invalidated, but changed its stance to count them as legitimate ballots, saying "such votes were given to them due to election workers' mistakes and there will be no problem if they are stamped normally."

However, it was reported that a polling station in Suseong District in Dageu, has already invalidated such ballots, and the NEC said it will "decide what to do after vote tabulation."

The NEC is also yet to make a decision as to whether to allow those who gave up voting after the identification process during the early voting session for patients and quarantined people. There were multiple cases of voters returning their ballots or refusing to receive ballots after knowing that they were not allowed to insert their votes directly into ballot boxes.

National Election Commission Chairperson Noh Jeong-hee holds her ballot at a polling station in Dongan District, Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Yonhap

As controversy continues to mount over the NEC's clumsy preparation for the presidential election, concerns are also growing about a possible dispute over the election result itself.

A number of civic groups have already filed complaints with the prosecution against the NEC, saying that the early voting for COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine was "a shocking compromise of the election."

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The Korean Bar Association also said in a statement that the early voting has "violated the principles of a democratic election ― direct and secret voting" and the incidents may "impair people's suffrage seriously and trigger nationwide distrust of the election."

Though rival parties and their candidates are making efforts to prevent such concerns from developing into an election fraud narrative, pundits said chances remain high for defiance among supporters, if the election ends in a close race.

Main opposition People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, right, and former People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo raise their arms during Yoon's public speech in Busan's Yeonje District, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps

Ahn's last-minute withdrawal

Another major variable in Wednesday's election was center-right candidate Ahn Cheol-soo's last-minute coalition with main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate Yoon Suk-yeol.

Since Ahn withdrew his presidential bid and endorsed Yoon after the NEC prohibited polling agencies from announcing new survey results, it is unclear whether their coalition will only benefit the PPP candidate.

In the latest surveys, Yoon had a slight lead over ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate Lee Jae-myung within the margin of error. Against this backdrop, the PPP said the coalition with third most popular candidate Ahn will give "a boost for Yoon's support rate to surpass 50 percent," while the DPK slammed the coalition as "a collusion" which will only help DPK supporters to unite.

This is the fourth time that candidates merged their campaigns in Korea's presidential elections, and Ahn has precedent of forming a single candidacy with his rival.

In 2012, Ahn merged his campaign with then-Democratic United Party candidate Moon Jae-in, but did not assist Moon's campaign actively, and left the country on the day of the election. Moon's campaign ended up unsuccessful, with then Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye taking the office.

Seen above is the voting document for the presidential election. Resigned People's Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo remains as candidate No. 4 in the ballot. Yonhap

Unlike the 2012 campaign, Ahn this time is more active in supporting Yoon. After dropping his candidacy on March 3, Ahn appeared at six of Yoon's public speeches, urging the public to vote for Yoon for "the great cause of leadership change."

Candidates' coalition have been powerful in two other previous cases.

In 1997, liberal candidate Kim Dae-jung became the country's 15th president after forming a coalition with Kim Jong-pil, then a leader of the minor conservative party. Their coalition continued as a coalition government, with the latter becoming the prime minister.

In 2002, liberal candidate Roh Moo-hyun became the 16th president after forming a coalition with minor conservative Chung Mong-joon. The two decided Roh as their unified candidate through a public poll, which was the first time in Korea's history, and surveys showed that their merger was successful. Though Chung withdrew his support of Roh just a day before the election, Roh managed to win the election with a 2.3 percentage point lead over main conservative party candidate, Lee Hoi-chang.

Since Ahn withdrew his candidacy after ballots were printed, voters' confusion at polling booths is also a variable in this election.

At polling stations, notifications and banners were put up to notify that Ahn and candidate No. 9 Kim Dong-yeon have stepped down, but there were no such notices in the ballots given to voters during Wednesday's election.

According to Jeju Police, a man, whose identity was not revealed, yelled at other voters to "vote for Ahn" at a polling station in Oedo-dong in Jeju at around 8:30 a.m. The man left the polling station before the police arrived.

A placard hung at a polling station in Seongbuk District, Seoul, shows that candidates No. 4 Ahn Cheol-soo and No. 9 Kim Dong-yeon have resigned. Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-woo