Sophistry of "As Long as the Final Voter Turnout is Correct"... Suspicion of Manipulation Found in Chungcheong Region Too

[Anchor]

Regarding the allegations of voter turnout manipulation by Election Commission officials during the June 3 local elections, suspicious circumstances have been captured in two other regions in addition to Gyeonggi Province. An official under investigation for related charges reportedly claimed, "Isn't it fine as long as the final voter turnout is correct?"

This is a report by Jeon Yeonnam.

[Reporter]

The joint investigation headquarters of prosecutors and police has additionally detected circumstances where voter turnout was falsely entered at two polling stations, including one in the Gyeonggi region and another in the Chungcheong region, on the day of the June 3 local elections.

The findings were uncovered while analyzing seized messenger records among employees. These locations are different from the Gyeonggi region polling station subject to the seizure and search conducted yesterday (the 23rd).

Previously, the joint investigation headquarters found that during the process of compiling hourly voter turnout, a Gyeonggi region polling station mistakenly entered the number of voters from the hundreds to the thousands. To conceal this, two officials—one from the National Election Commission and another from the Gyeonggi Election Commission—reportedly distributed figures exceeding the actual number of voters to other polling stations.

In this process, the voting status was manipulated for about four hours. At another polling station where the number of voters was inflated, the count was recorded in a way that increased the number of voters by just one person per hour.

Having captured these circumstances, the joint investigation headquarters has been conducting a search and seizure at the National Election Commission for the second consecutive day following yesterday.

During yesterday's search and seizure, the related election commission official reportedly acknowledged the false input while making the absurd claim, "Isn't it fine as long as the final voter turnout is correct?"

With possibilities being raised that voter turnout statistics manipulation may have been treated lightly within the Election Commission and practiced as a routine matter, the likelihood of expanding the investigation to polling stations nationwide is growing.

Meanwhile, regarding the ballot paper shortage incident, the joint investigation headquarters questioned the secretary-general of the Dongjak District Election Commission as a suspect. Regarding allegations of a junket overseas trip by former Election Commission Chairman Noh Tae-ak, three officials from the National Election Commission were summoned as reference witnesses.

(Video Editing: Won Hyeong-hee)