Election watchdog slammed over poor management of ballots

Rep. Min Kyung-wook of the main opposition United Future Party shows unmarked ballot papers for the April 15 general election, during a press conference at the National Assembly, Seoul, Monday, as “evidence” of his claim of vote rigging. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

The National Election Commission (NEC) has come under fire for poor management of ballot papers for the April 15 general election as some ballots for the proportional representation vote were allegedly stolen.

The controversy started Monday after Rep. Min Kyung-wook of the main opposition United Future Party (UFP), who has been claiming ballot rigging ever since losing in the election for an Incheon constituency, presented six unmarked ballots as “evidence” of the claimed ballot fabrication.

“A bunch of unmarked ballot papers for the proportional representation vote, which had not been sealed by voting observers, have been found,” Min said during a press conference at the National Assembly. “It shows a possibility of miscalculations when counting the votes.”

On Tuesday, the NEC said the six ballot papers were unused ones left at its regional branch in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, saying they confirmed the branch through the serial numbers of the ballot papers Min presented at the conference.

The unused ballots were supposed to be sealed in a bag belonging to the NEC. But the election officials at the vote counting station in Guri Gymnasium found some errors, so they had to open the bag and recheck the ballots. After that, they did not seal the bag again and left it at a training room inside the gym, according to the NEC.

“We are presuming that an unidentified person stole some of the remaining ballots that had not been used during the general election,” the NEC said in a press release.

It is unclear how the ballots could go missing when only NEC staffers were allowed to enter ballot counting stations, but criticisms were that the NEC did not properly monitor the ballot counting station in Guri, as there were no CCTV cameras in the training room.

The NEC apologized for its poor management of election-related items but said if it turns out that someone stole the ballot papers, they will be subject to punishment according to the Public Official Election Act.

“As the act of stealing ballot papers is a serious crime that harms the order of democratic elections and is in violation of the Public Official Election Act and the Criminal Act, we have requested prosecutors investigate the case,” it said.

While the prosecution is looking into how Min had acquired the missing ballot papers, Min has refused to reveal his source. He instead proposed more rewards for future informants who have evidence to back his ballot-rigging claim.

Min and some other conservative activists have claimed that the NEC appointed six Chinese nationals as ballot counters and they were involved in the alleged ballot rigging. “For ethnic Koreans from China living here, I call for more reports which can reveal the ballot rigging,” Min wrote on Facebook, proposing a reward of up to 5 million won ($4,069).

The NEC said five among the six are of Korean nationality (including four naturalized Koreans) while one was a Chinese national with permanant resident status in Korea. “We appoint those who can serve the role with fairness and neutrality such as civil servants, bank clerks or other officers with public organizations as ballot counters, but the fact that a permanent resident was on the counting staff cannot be evidence of ballot rigging,” the NEC said.

Min's continued claims of ballot rigging are receiving criticism within and outside of his party, as lawmakers and politics experts said it is unlikely when NEC staff and observers monitor the whole election process.