National Assembly Holds 3rd Hearing on Election Commission; Clash Over Recount Schedule

[Anchor]

A parliamentary hearing by the special committee investigating the National Election Commission regarding the ballot paper shortage is currently underway at the National Assembly. However, due to a clash between the ruling and opposition parties over the recount date for the Olympic Park polling station in Seoul, proper questioning of the Election Commission has yet to take place.

[Reporter]

At the third hearing of the special committee investigating the June 3 local election ballot paper shortage, which began on the morning of today, August 10, a standoff between lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties continued into the afternoon.

The two sides clashed over the scheduled date for the recount at the Olympic Park counting station in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

The Democratic Party maintained its stance to proceed with the recount as previously scheduled, which had been tentatively agreed upon for the 18th of this month.

[Yun Kun-young / Democratic Party Lawmaker: We need to verify what needs to be verified, uncover what needs to be uncovered, and fix what is wrong. I don't understand why this is being politically exploited as if for entertainment.]

On the other hand, the People Power Party countered that since a special counsel investigation into the Election Commission will soon be launched, the on-site recount and verification should be conducted in consultation with the special counsel.

[Joo Jin-woo / People Power Party Lawmaker: We need to touch and take out all the ballot boxes, and the question arises as to whether we can do this while strictly preventing integrity issues and evidence contamination like an investigative agency.]

In a written report, the National Election Commission explained regarding the recently raised issue of "erroneous entry of voter counts" that hourly voter counts are provisional figures and can differ from the actual numbers.

It drew a line, stating that the suspected voter turnout manipulation could not lead to vote count manipulation.

[Wi Chul-hwan / Acting Chairman of the National Election Commission: I apologize to the public and the members of the committee. However, that (erroneous entry of voter counts) is entirely a separate matter from the actual voting results.]

The Election Commission stated in its written report that it plans to push for measures such as changing the voter turnout release cycle from the current one hour to every two hours to prevent erroneous entries. However, because ruling and opposition lawmakers have continued their power struggle over the recount date, related questioning has not yet taken place.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video reporting: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Lee Seung-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.