Special Counsel Team for Election Commission Launches First Seizure and Search on Central and Local Election Offices

The special counsel team investigating the ballot paper shortage incident that occurred during the previous local elections has launched a forced investigation 10 days after its launch.

The special counsel team announced that starting around 9:10 a.m. today (September 17), it has dispatched special assistant counsel, prosecutors, and investigators to a total of 10 locations, including the National Election Commission and local election commissions, to conduct searches and seizures to secure internal servers and materials.

This marks the first search and seizure since the special counsel team was officially launched on September 7.

A total of 75 investigation personnel, consisting of 1 special assistant counsel, 6 prosecutors, 68 investigators, and 22 forensic personnel, were deployed to the search and seizure sites.

The specific locations subject to the search and seizure are the National Election Commission, Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission, Gimpo City Election Commission in Gyeonggi Province, Uijeongbu City Election Commission in Gyeonggi Province, Incheon City Election Commission, Yeonsu-gu Election Commission in Incheon, Daegu City Election Commission, Dong-gu Election Commission in Daegu, Busan City Election Commission, and Buk-gu Election Commission in Busan.

Incheon Yeonsu-gu, Gyeonggi Gimpo, Daegu Dong-gu, and Busan Buk-gu are all areas that include 26 polling stations where voting was suspended and then resumed.

Gyeonggi Uijeongbu is an area that includes 5 of the 140 polling stations where additional ballot papers were dispatched due to anticipated shortages on election day.

The special counsel team is investigating a total of 12 suspicions, including the ballot paper shortage incident, manipulation of voting statistics, and overseas business trips by election commission officials under the guise of official duties.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.