72 turnout corrections reported to election watchdog on June 3 election day
Investigators leave the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, after executing a search and seizure warrant against the election watchdog. Joint Press Corps
The National Election Commission (NEC) received a total of 72 reports of voter turnout corrections on the day of the June 3 local elections, information submitted by the watchdog to a lawmaker showed Monday.
According to information the NEC submitted to Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the main opposition People Power Party, the 72 reports came from 56 local election offices across the country. It was also revealed that in some cases, the voter count increased by more than 6,000 and turnout figures were corrected as late as 12 hours later.
The possibility of additional voter turnout revisions that were not reported to the NEC cannot be ruled out, as the watchdog has a total of 255 branch offices nationwide, the lawmaker noted.
A joint prosecution-police investigation team has also secured the turnout correction data and is reportedly investigating whether there were additional instances in which NEC employees manipulated the statistics without leaving a record.
In Incheon's Geomdan district, west of Seoul, the number of voters was initially reported as 54,665 as of 4 p.m. on June 3 but was later revised to 61,276, an increase of more than 6,000.
In Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, the voter count as of noon was revised from 15,634 to 19,631, while in Goseong, Gangwon Province, the 11 a.m. figure was revised from 4,392 to 5,639.
At a polling station in Ansan, just south of Seoul, 41 voters were mistakenly recorded as 410. In Haenam, South Jeolla Province, the voter count in the Gyeogok district was incorrectly entered as 284 instead of 84 before being corrected.
There were also cases in which turnout figures were not corrected until as long as 12 hours later.
In Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, an error in the 7 a.m. voter turnout figure was not corrected until 7 p.m., while in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, the 6 p.m. turnout figure was not changed until 9 p.m., hours after voting had ended.