Suspicion of Voter Turnout Manipulation in June 3 Local Elections... What Messenger Chats Show

[Anchor]

The shortage of ballots is escalating into suspicions of voter turnout manipulation. Circumstances have been detected where an election commission staff member mistakenly entered the number of voters and then falsified the figures to cover up the mistake. The joint investigation headquarters of prosecutors and police has secured messenger conversation contents showing election commission staff conspiring to manipulate numbers.

Our first report today (July 23) by reporter Shin Yong-il.

[Reporter]

The joint investigation headquarters of prosecutors and police conducted a seizure and search this morning at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, and the Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission.

The search warrant specified charges of forging public electronic records and obstruction of official duties. During the investigation into the ballot shortage, the joint investigation team captured circumstances where the number of voters was falsely entered at a polling station in the Gyeonggi region on the day of the June 3 local elections.

An official from the regional election commission mistakenly entered hundreds of voters as thousands during the hourly voter turnout aggregation process, and then attempted to manipulate the turnout by distributing figures exceeding the actual number of voters to other polling stations to hide the error.

It was also found that they omitted the necessary reporting to superiors and approval procedures required when correcting misentered numbers.

The joint investigation team also secured messenger contents showing working-level election commission staff conspiring among themselves to match the numbers without reporting the input error to superiors.

As a result, the manipulated statistics reportedly returned to normal over time through subsequent adjustments.

The joint investigation headquarters has booked two individuals, including employees from the National Election Commission and the Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission involved in the turnout manipulation, and plans to summon them to verify the details of the manipulation once the analysis of the seized items is complete.

Meanwhile, the joint investigation team also conducted searches and seizures at the election commissions in Songpa-gu, Gangnam-gu, and Seocho-gu in Seoul to secure additional evidence regarding the ballot shortage issue, which was the original focus of the investigation.

(Camera: Lee Sang-hak, Kang Si-woo | Video Editing: Won Hyung-hee | Design: Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.