Election Day vote-count probe obtains records of 72 turnout revisions
A police-prosecution task force obtained records showing dozens of Election Day voter turnout corrections, including large revisions and delayed changes, as it investigates alleged manipulation at the National Election Commission.
The National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, is seen on July 24.NEWS1
A joint police-prosecution task force investigating allegations that the National Election Commission (NEC) manipulated voting statistics has obtained records showing over 70 separate corrections to voter turnout figures reported on the day of the June 3 local elections.
In one case, the reported voter count was revised upward by more than 6,000. In another, the figure was corrected 12 hours after it was first reported. Some reports failed to state a specific reason for the change.
A total of 72 correction reports from 56 districts, city and county election commissions nationwide were sent to the NEC on Election Day, according to a report that Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party (PPP) obtained from the NEC, released Monday. There are 255 local-level election commissions in Korea.
The joint task force has secured the relevant correction records and is reportedly examining whether there were additional cases in which NEC staff altered voter turnout figures without leaving any separate record.
Under the comprehensive management guidelines for local elections, any revision made to data entered into the election management system must be accompanied by a specific reason, and the relevant metropolitan or provincial commission must confirm that reason before approving the change.
Many of the correction reports submitted during the June 3 local elections, however, cited vague justifications, such as "correction due to an omission" or "change in voter count." The level of detail varied by commission as well.
In some polling stations, the numbers changed completely.
At the station in Geomdan District, Incheon, the turnout as of 4 p.m. was initially given as 54,665, then later changed to 61,276 — an increase of more than 6,000.
"The count was tallied and saved after the final report by polling station, but the total election-day voter count differed," the commission wrote its reasoning for the change in the report.
In Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, the voter turnout reported as of noon was revised from 15,634 to 19,631. In Goseong County, Gangwon, the 11 a.m. figure was corrected from 4,392 to 5,639.
Some corrections addressed clear data-entry errors. At the No. 1 polling station in Baegun-dong, Danwon District in Ansan, Gyeonggi, a figure of 41 was mistakenly entered as 410 before being corrected. In Gyegok-myeon in Haenam County, South Jeolla, 84 was mistakenly entered as 284 before being fixed.
Officials from the joint prosecution-police investigation team probing the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections load boxes of seized materials into a vehicle after completing a search and seizure operation at the National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on July 23.NEWS1
There were also cases in which voter turnout figures were not corrected immediately. In Gunpo, Gyeonggi, an error in the 7 a.m. voter count was not corrected until 7 p.m. In Jincheon County, North Chungcheong, the 6 p.m. figure was not changed until 9 p.m. Both corrections came after voting had ended.
In some cases, the same figure was changed multiple times. At the No. 1 polling station in Yonggang-dong in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, the voter count was revised from 2,162 to 2,161, then changed back to 2,162.
In Sangdang-gu in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, and in Hongseong County, South Chungcheong, identical voter turnout figures were entered at both 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., prompting corrections.
The NEC's hourly voter turnout tally works as follows: Polling station managers relay voter counts by phone to their township or neighborhood election commission, which then reports the figures to the district, city or county commission through the election management system. That commission, in turn, relays the voter count to the metropolitan or provincial commission and to NEC headquarters through the vote-counting report system.
The joint task force is examining whether errors that occurred during this process were manipulated into the turnout figures by being entered in multiple separate increments, rather than being handled through the normal correction procedure.
Signs of vote-count manipulation have so far been confirmed in two locations in Gyeonggi, and in the Chungcheong region whose exact location has yet to be disclosed to the public. Investigators are looking into whether similar cases occurred elsewhere.
"The voter turnout figures — which should be the most basic and accurate data of all — were tracked and corrected in a slipshod way," Rep. Kim said. "It's hard to gauge just how far this lax election management may have spread. That's exactly why the special counsel investigation needs to proceed thoroughly, without any sacred cows."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
