Tongyeong mayoral election recount confirms Democratic Party candidate's victory
The recount came after ex-Mayor Chun Young-gee, a member of the People Power Party, filed a petition seeking to invalidate the result of the June 3 local elections, citing errors in the ballot sorting system.
Tongyeong Mayor Kang Seok-joo, left, and the city's former mayor Chun Young-geeNEWS1
The Tongyeong mayoral election recount confirmed Democratic Party candidate Kang Seok-joo as the winner, following his initial victory by just 44 votes in the June 3 local elections.
The South Gyeongsang provincial election commission announced early on Tuesday that after completing the recount, Kang had again defeated former Tongyeong Mayor Chun Young-gee of the People Power Party, this time by 38 votes.
The recount, which took about 12 hours, increased the total number of votes for Chun by six, narrowed the margin between the two candidates from 44 votes to 38 and decreased the number of invalid ballots from 1,030 to 1,024.
After recounting 69,693 ballots, however, officials confirmed that there was no discrepancy in the total number of ballots and the result.
The recount came after Chun filed an election petition on June 17. The petition sought to invalidate the result, with Chun citing errors in the ballot sorting system during the vote-counting and verification process.
The recount was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on Monday but started at around 3:25 p.m. after Chun’s representatives questioned the condition of the seals on the ballot storage boxes.
Poll workers then examined each ballot, with election officials and citizens from both campaigns observing the process. Those supporting Chun included Jeon Han-gil, a former Korean history instructor and conservative YouTuber who has claimed election fraud regarding last month’s elections, and television producer Lee Young-don.
Election officials recount ballots for the Tongyeong mayoral race on July 27 as people, including former Korean history instructor and conservative YouTuber Jeon Han-gil, third from left, observe.NEWS1
Repeated objections from both sides delayed the recount, which led to the final result being announced at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday, later than initially expected.
Based on the result, the South Gyeongsang provincial election commission will decide by Aug. 18 whether to accept Chun’s petition to invalidate the election.
Chun is responsible for covering the full cost of the recount — approximately 19.2 million won ($13,000) — though he will be refunded if his election petition is upheld.
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.
