By Kim Rahn
Investigators at Gwanak Police Station said Thursday that they have asked prosecutors to indict Lee Jung-hee, former co-chairwoman of the leftwing Unified Progressive Party (UPP), on charges of fabricating the results of a public poll ahead of April’s legislative elections.
The move came five days after Lee presented herself voluntarily at the police station for questioning on Saturday where she refused to testify, exercising her right to remain silent.
Three members of the party, including Lee’s former aide surnamed Cho, were arrested last week on the same charges, while another 41 party members are under investigation.
Lee is suspected of having participated in the poll rigging scheme, which helped her become the single opposition candidate in Gwanak District for the parliamentary election because it showed that her ratings had apparently risen.
Police confirmed that Lee was with other key figures involved on the day the fabrication occurred.
“Lee exercised her right to remain silent. But based on our investigation so far, we are sure she was aware of the rigging. We won’t summon her again but we are sending the case to the prosecution,” a police officer said.
In the poll conducted in March, Lee’s ratings moved ahead of a rival from the main opposition Democratic United Party.
But suspicions emerged that Lee’s aides manipulated the vote, in which people of all age groups participated. According to police, they allegedly learned in the middle of the vote that polling of those aged 60 and above had finished, and sent party members text messages urging them to lie that they were aged lower than 60 when polling staff called them.
They also allegedly opened 190 phone lines under false names and had party members, who were not residents of Gwanak, answer calls and cast additional votes.
Several days after the scandal broke, Lee dropped out of the race. She also resigned from the party leadership in May, taking responsibility for the party’s internal feud following a series of alleged ballot fraud incidents surrounding the primary.
The UPP has been undergoing a related investigation for alleged fabrication in the proportional representation primary. Prosecutors found more than half of votes cast for Rep. Lee Seok-ki in the party’s ballot to select proportional representation candidates were fraudulent, saying many voters submitted multiple ballots for him.