▲ Officials, administrative workers, and observers from the special counsel team investigating the National Election Commission pose as they prepare for a public verification of ballots from the June 3 local elections at the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the 28th.
The special counsel team investigating the National Election Commission (NEC) over the shortage of ballot papers in the June 3 local elections has requested that the NEC preserve the current state of ballots that were transported out of Olympic Park following public verification on the 28th, without any objections raised.
In a media notice today (the 30th), the special counsel team stated, "We have requested the NEC to maintain the current state of the ballots and other materials that received no objections during the verification process, in preparation for potential additional verification needs in the future."
According to the special counsel team, the ballots and materials that faced no objections during the verification process were moved to a third-party location outside the NEC, where they underwent sorting procedures before being repackaged.
It was learned that the storage location is a security warehouse designated by the NEC, equipped with access control systems and closed-circuit television (CCTV), with security personnel stationed around the clock.
The special counsel team added that investigators accompanied the transport from the moment it left Olympic Park, overseeing the entire process of unloading and stacking.
On the 28th, the special counsel team conducted a 12-hour public verification at the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park regarding approximately 2.47 million ballots from Songpa-gu and items such as on-site CCTV footage.
Out of 433 boxes containing ballots, 420 boxes verified as having no irregularities were taken back by the NEC, while 13 boxes containing ballots subject to objections were seized by the special counsel team.
The special counsel team announced plans to conduct further detailed forensic examinations on the disputed ballots and equipment.
The team also decided to send some of the items to the National Forensic Service for inspection.
According to a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, a total of approximately 700 ballot papers were raised as requiring additional verification during this inspection.
The public verification observer group reportedly raised issues, stating that "some ballots are crisp without any creases."
It was also reported that ballots questioned for "having no trace of being folded or not appearing to have been folded" were included among the contested ballots.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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