Rival Parties Shocked by Election Commission Allegations, Clash Over Extension of Probe

[Anchor]

With suspicions of statistical manipulation coming to light on top of the shortage of ballot papers, both the ruling and opposition parties expressed shock. The ruling People Power Party officially requested the Democratic Party to extend the operational period of the parliamentary special committee on investigating the National Election Commission. In response, the Democratic Party dismissed it as a time-wasting political campaign and urged cooperation in processing a special counsel bill first.

Reporter Son Hyeong-an has the details.

[Reporter]

Regarding the joint police and prosecution investigation team's seizure and search after uncovering circumstances suggesting the National Election Commission manipulated voter turnout statistics, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok raised his voice, asserting that the activity period of the parliamentary special committee investigating the ballot paper shortage must be extended to uncover all suspicions.

[Jang Dong-hyeok / People Power Party Leader: We must thoroughly uncover all the problems and suspicions that emerged in this local election, even if it means extending the period of the parliamentary investigation.]

The special committee, which began on June 18, is scheduled to operate until August 1, but effectively concluded its activities with yesterday's plenary meeting on the 22nd.

Leader Jang also demanded that "to investigate computer manipulation and other issues, the central election commission's servers must be included in the scope of the special counsel investigation targeting the election commission."

Floor Leader Chung Jeom-shik likewise argued that there is no need to rush to end the parliamentary investigation now that suspicions of voter turnout manipulation have been raised, officially proposing an extension of the deadline to the Democratic Party.

While acknowledging that the incident reaffirms the election commission's incompetence and lax discipline, the Democratic Party criticized the People Power Party, stating that it is engaging in a time-wasting political campaign by "postponing the recount of ballot papers at Olympic Park, holding back the election commission special counsel bill, and only crying out for an extension of the parliamentary investigation deadline."

The Democratic Party added that Leader Jang Dong-hyeok rejected the special counsel bill previously agreed upon by the floor leaders of both parties over issues regarding the scope of the investigation, demanding that the bill be swiftly processed in the extraordinary session of the National Assembly in July.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)

Reported by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video by Oh Young-taek

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