Inspection of local election ballots stored at Seoul stadium ongoing for 7 hours
Summary
Lee Tae-han’s team continued inspecting ballots at a gymnasium in Seoul’s Songpa Ward as part of an investigation into election management and ballot shortages. The team is examining security camera footage, checking the ballot count and looking for possible hacking of ballot-sorting machines, but said the inspection is not a recount. The gymnasium had been used as a vote-counting center, and protesters had blocked the ballots’ removal while calling for accountability and a rerun. No major clashes were reported as police managed the crowd.
Key Facts
- The inspection is intended to determine whether ballots were tampered with or forged.
- About 500 National Election Commission officials were dispatched to support the inspection.
- Observers selected by the National Assembly, lawmakers and journalists were present.
- About 300 protesters gathered near the site, while police deployed about 3,000 officers for crowd control.
- Lee’s team was launched the previous month to investigate ballot-paper management, suspected voter-turnout data tampering and other alleged misconduct.
Ballot counting machines installed at the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul, where the National Election Commission special counsel's public verification of the June 3 local election ballots is taking place, Wednesday. Yonhap
The gymnasium was used as a vote counting center during the elections and houses ballots cast in Seoul's southeastern Songpa Ward as protesters have blocked their removal amid calls for accountability and a rerun of the elections.
The shortages, reported at multiple polling stations nationwide, sparked a major public outcry after voting was disrupted at some stations and some voters were forced to turn back without casting their ballots.
"(We) hope that this inspection and the currently ongoing investigation serve as an opportunity to resolve the current problems in election management and regain the people's trust," Lee said.
He said the inspection will mainly focus on examining the security camera footage to check for possible intrusions at the site, verifying the number of ballots and checking for possible hacking of ballot sorting machines.
Lee's team has said the examination will not serve as a recount of the votes and is aimed at determining whether there had been any acts of tampering or forgery.
About 500 officials from the National Election Commission were dispatched to support the team in the effort.
A team of observers chosen by the National Assembly, as well as lawmakers and journalists, were also present, considering the high level of public interest.
About 300 protesters gathered around the site, with police deploying some 3,000 officers for crowd control.
While some observers were briefly blocked for attempting to take photos with their mobile phones or use equipment they had brought, no major clashes were reported.
Lee's team was launched last month to investigate the election watchdog's management of ballot papers, suspected tampering of voter turnout data and other allegations of misconduct.
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