Voter Count Corrections Exceed 70 Cases... Dismissed as "Simple Mistakes" Despite Discrepancies of Thousands of Votes

[Anchor]

It has been revealed that during the June 3 local elections, the National Election Commission requested corrections 72 times due to incorrect entries of voter numbers in its computer system. In some areas, the difference before and after the corrections amounted to thousands of voters, but the election commission explained that most of these were simple mistakes.

Here is a report by reporter Park Chan-beom.

[Reporter]

This is the log of correction reports regarding hourly voter turnout on the day of the June 3 local elections, submitted by the National Election Commission to the National Assembly.

Out of 255 city, county, and district election commissions nationwide, 56, or about 20 percent, requested 72 corrections to voter counts. In several places, the differences before and after the corrections reached thousands of voters.

Following a correction, the Geomdan-gu Election Commission in Incheon saw the number of voters as of 4:00 PM increase by 6,611.

At the time, it was only explained that figures tallied by polling station did not match and were thus being corrected. However, when SBS asked why the correction had to be made, the Incheon Election Commission responded, "As the joint investigation headquarters of the prosecution and police is investigating the entire election commission, our response is limited."

The Sangdang-gu Election Commission in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, also saw its voter count as of 5:00 PM increase by 4,248 due to a data entry error, while the Sacheon Election Commission in South Gyeongsang Province saw a 3,997 increase in its noon voter count due to omissions.

The Seobuk-gu Election Commission in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, modified its 8:00 AM voter count from 13,145 to 6,000, only to correct it back to 13,146 later.

An official from the relevant election commission explained to SBS, "We have not figured out the exact reason, but it appears to be a simple mistake."

[Kim Eun-hye / People Power Party Lawmaker: This shows that voter turnout, which should be the most basic and accurate data, was handled and modified in a haphazard manner. This is why a thorough and uncompromising special counsel investigation is necessary.]

Meanwhile, it was also revealed that following the 2024 general election, two public audit requests demanding an investigation into suspected manipulation of voter counts and turnout rates had been filed, but the election commission dismissed or rejected the requests on the grounds that lawsuits related to allegations of election fraud were ongoing.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News | Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Wi Won-yang | Design by Cho Su-in, Hwang Se-yeon, and Lee Ga-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.