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

[Anchor]

Moving beyond a mere shortage of ballot papers to suspected statistical manipulation, both the ruling and opposition parties have expressed shock. The People Power Party officially requested the Democratic Party to extend the operating period of the parliamentary investigation special committee on the Election Commission. In response, the Democratic Party dismissed the move as a stalling tactic and political agitation, urging the ruling party instead to cooperate on passing a special counsel bill.

Reporter Son Hyeong-an has the details.

[Reporter]

Regarding the joint police and prosecution investigation headquarters capturing signs of vote turnout statistics manipulation by the National Election Commission and launching a compulsory investigation, People Power Party leader Chang Dong-hyeok raised his voice, stating that an extension of the parliamentary investigation special committee's activity period on the ballot paper shortage is necessary to uncover all suspicions.

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

The special committee, which began on June 18, is scheduled to operate until August 1, but has effectively concluded its activities following yesterday's (July 22) plenary session.

Leader Chang also demanded that, in order to investigate computer manipulation and other issues, the investigation targets of the Election Commission special counsel must include the central election management server.

Floor Leader Jung Jeom-sik also stated that given the raised suspicions of turnout manipulation, there is no need to rush to end the parliamentary investigation, officially proposing an extension period to the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party criticized the incident as a confirmation of the Election Commission's incompetence and lax discipline, while accusing the People Power Party of engaging in a stalling tactic and political agitation by delaying the recount of Olympic Park ballot papers, stalling the Election Commission special counsel bill, and only calling for an extension of the parliamentary investigation deadline.

The party further asserted that People Power Party leader Chang Dong-hyeok rejected the special counsel bill previously agreed upon by the floor leaders of both rival parties due to issues with the scope of the investigation, and demanded the prompt processing of the special counsel bill during the July extraordinary session of the National Assembly.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reported by Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video Edited by Oh Young-taek)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.