NEC Special Counsel Begins Public Ballot Verification Amid Delays Caused by Protests Over Filming Ban

The special counsel team investigating the shortage of ballots during the June 3 local elections has officially begun verifying approximately 2.47 million ballots to check for forgery and other irregularities.

The special counsel team had initially planned to begin the verification process at around 9:00 a.m. today (the 28th), but the start was delayed until around 12:00 p.m. as some People Power Party lawmakers and observers protested the team's policy prohibiting filming.

Prior to launching the on-site verification at the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul, at around 9:40 a.m. today, Special Counsel Lee Tae-han stated, "We are well aware of the public distrust in South Korea's election system, which is encapsulated by the voting suspension incident during the local elections, and we are approaching this investigation with a heavy sense of responsibility and alertness."

He emphasized, "I sincerely hope that this verification and the ongoing investigation will serve as an opportunity to improve the shortcomings of past election management and restore public trust."

Some 110 special counsel personnel and around 500 National Election Commission officials deployed for this verification plan to check the quantity and condition of approximately 2.47 million ballots from Songpa-gu stored inside the stadium, verifying discrepancies in ballot counts and potential forgeries.

The team also plans to conduct secondary precision appraisals if abnormal ballots are discovered, while simultaneously examining the possibility of hacking in equipment such as ballot sorters.


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