Joint investigation team raids election agency over rigged voter turnout data

Officials of the police-prosecution joint investigation team raid the National Election Commission's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Yonhap

A joint police-prosecution investigation team raided the National Election Commission (NEC), Thursday, as part of its probe into the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections, saying it had uncovered evidence that election officials manipulated statistical data to conceal errors.

Investigators said working-level officials in charge of local polling stations rigged voter turnout figures to cover up discrepancies in ballot counts.

The raids targeted the NEC headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as well as local election offices in Seoul's Songpa, Gangnam and Seocho districts.

The team said Thursday's operation was aimed at securing additional evidence to determine the full scope of the ballot shortage, following an initial raid on the NEC and other offices on June 11.

Since 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 that disrupted voting at dozens of polling stations during the June 3 local elections.