Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok Calls for Transparency After "Unusual" Identical Vote Counts in Songdo Early Voting

▲ Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok holds a press conference at Incheon City Hall on the afternoon of June 24 to call for improvements to the election system.

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, who was defeated in the June 3 local elections, has called for the transparent disclosure of election data and the abolition of the early voting system, citing the "unusual" occurrence of identical vote counts in the Songdo 1-dong and Songdo 2-dong districts.

During a press conference held at the Incheon City Hall briefing room today (June 24), Mayor Yoo stated, "Regarding the early voting results in Songdo 1-dong and 2-dong, some raise questions, arguing it is statistically improbable, while others claim it is well within the realm of statistical possibility." He added, "A full investigation into the 10 nationwide elections since the introduction of early voting shows that there have been only three instances of identical vote counts over the past 12 years."

The cases of identical vote counts mentioned by Mayor Yoo include the 2014 local elections (Gunsan, Jeonbuk), the 2014 local elections (Seocheon, Chungnam), and the 2016 parliamentary elections (Gwangju Dong-gu/Nam-gu Eul).

"Those cases involved small voting districts with fewer than 600 total voters," Mayor Yoo argued. "The probability of identical vote counts occurring in Songdo 1-dong and Songdo 2-dong, where over 4,500 voters participated in each, is even lower."

He continued by stating that he does not hold any preconceived notions or definitive conclusions regarding these results, nor is he attempting to challenge the election outcome. "As it is common sense to raise reasonable doubts, I urge the transparent disclosure of data that the public can verify, including early voting tally records, ballot counting reports, and operation logs of ballot sorting machines, to ensure a transparent verification process."

Furthermore, he proposed a reform of the election system, suggesting the abolition of early voting in favor of holding the main election over two days, such as "Tuesday and Wednesday" or "Friday and Saturday."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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