Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Election watchdog searched for evidence over alleged voter turnout figure fabrication
Officials of the police-prosecution joint investigation team enter the National Election Commission's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, to seize materials related to the commission's alleged fabrication of voter turnout numbers. Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
Probe may extend to previous elections
A joint investigation team visited the offices of the National Election Commission (NEC) Thursday to seize evidence over allegations that officials falsified voter turnout figures for the June 3 local elections to conceal their own errors.
The new allegation emerged in addition to the ballot shortage incident, further eroding public trust in the commission. The investigation is likely to expand, as the commission's problem now goes beyond lax operations and dereliction of duty to falsification of election data, which could constitute a criminal offense.
The joint team, comprising police officers and prosecutors, visited NEC headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, and its regional office of the province. Their warrants state the searches were based on suspicions of falsification of official electronic records and obstruction of official duties.
It found circumstances in which working-level officials at the regional office made a mistake in recording the number of voters and, to cover it up, fabricated the numbers in the data on their own without authorization.
In the event that such a mistake happens, those in charge should report it to their superiors and get approval to correct it. But they are suspected of ignoring due process and changing the numbers arbitrarily, allegedly inputting “hundreds” of voters as “thousands” in one district, and then reducing the numbers in other districts to reach the correct total number of voters.
Investigators suspect this distorted the region’s hourly voter turnout that is announced every hour on Election Day, and possibly affected voters who decided to vote later in the day after watching the turnout.
If the allegation is proven true, the investigation could be expanded to see if such fabrications were used in other elections and if data other than voter turnout was manipulated.
National Election Commission officials check boxes containing election ballots at a gymnasium in Seoul, June 3. AP-Yonhap
The team plans to summon election officials for questioning once the analysis of the seized materials is complete to determine the motives and process behind the falsification of turnout figures.
Besides the two sites, the team also conducted search and seizures at NEC regional offices in Seoul's Songpa, Gangnam and Seocho districts, where hundreds of voters were kept waiting when several polling stations ran out of ballot papers. Many of them voted after the polls closed at 6 p.m. and the exit poll results were announced, which sparked criticisms over voting fairness and the infringement of voting rights. Thousands of people have taken to the streets for weeks claiming the election should be held again.
With the latest allegation of data manipulation, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has stepped up its claim that this constitutes election fraud.
Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the PPP, said the parliamentary committee's inspection should be extended while a special counsel probe should also be conducted simultaneously.
"Given the gravity of this situation, the mandate of the parliamentary committee's inspection must be extended to thoroughly uncover every issue and suspicion that surfaced during the latest local elections,” Jang said, adding that a special counsel should be given access to the NEC's main server.
The joint task force was launched on June 9 after President Lee Jae Myung ordered an investigation to determine the cause of the ballot shortages.
On June 24, investigators also searched the Songpa District election agency, seizing records related to the ballot shortages. During the investigation, authorities reportedly uncovered evidence suggesting that local election agencies may have failed to follow NEC guidelines despite expecting a potential ballot shortage in advance.