2.47 Million Ballots from Public Verification at 'Olpark' Completely Removed… Over 700 Additional Ballots Subject to Review

A total of 2.47 million ballots from the Songpa district for the June 3 local elections, which underwent public verification by the special counsel team led by Special Prosecutor Lee Tae-han, were entirely removed from the Handball Gymnasium at Olympic Park today (October 29).

This comes 146 days after the ballots were first transported to the Handball Gymnasium.

A total of 433 boxes containing the ballots were brought out today.

Among them, the National Election Commission (NEC) took 420 boxes of ballots verified to have no abnormalities.

The special counsel team secured 13 boxes containing ballots to which objections were raised.

According to lawmakers belonging to the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, a total of approximately 700 ballot papers were raised as needing additional verification during this process.

Some of these will be sent to the National Forensic Service (NFS), while the special counsel team plans to conduct further analysis on the rest.

The National Election Commission began moving the ballot boxes that completed public verification out of the stadium starting around 6:15 a.m. today.

Police formed a human chain to block protesters, allowing the removal to proceed rapidly without clashes.

NEC officials first moved the ballots where no abnormalities were found.

They exited through Gates 1 and 2 of the Handball Gymnasium, loaded the ballot boxes onto vehicles, and departed.

These ballots will be stored in a secure warehouse designated separately by the NEC in the greater Seoul area.

In accordance with the Public Official Election Act, they will be stored for the duration of the elected official's term, just like other ballots.

Ballot papers with suspected abnormalities and contested objections were also removed to the outside.

The NEC special counsel team plans to carry out procedures such as precision verification for these ballots.

Some of them will be transferred to the National Forensic Service for precision testing, while the special counsel team will review whether to convert others into subjects of investigation after analysis.

It was reported that the observation group raised issues, claiming some ballots were crisp without any crease marks.

Ballots that were questioned for showing no signs of being folded or not appearing folded at all were reportedly included among the contested ballots.

With all ballot boxes removed today, the "blockade protest" that had continued at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium for about four months is expected to come to an end.

The Handball Gymnasium, previously used as the Jamsil district counting center, had been blockaded since June 5 following the outbreak of the ballot paper shortage incident.

Protesters effectively occupied the areas around the entrance of the counting center, claiming they could not accept the election results.

Some protesters, who came upon news of yesterday's public verification and held an overnight sit-in protest, showed tears once the removal of the ballot boxes was completed.

Even after the removal was completed, some protesters remained around the Handball Gymnasium area, waving the Taegeukgi (South Korean flag) and the Stars and Stripes while shouting slogans such as "Fraudulent election, hold a re-election."

Yesterday, marking the 52nd day since launching its investigation, the special counsel team entered the interior of the Handball Gymnasium to conduct a public verification of approximately 2.47 million ballots from Songpa-gu and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.

The special counsel team concluded the verification procedure around 12:38 a.m. today, 12 hours after the public verification began.

Concluding the verification procedure, Special Prosecutor Lee Tae-han emphasized, "We have selected a significant number of ballots that require additional analysis and plan to conduct precision appraisals later," adding, "We will neither hastily jump to conclusions about unconfirmed matters nor predict contents without sufficient verification."

Some observers from the People Power Party protested by requesting a recount, to which Special Prosecutor Lee replied, "The ballots subject to investigation are limited to those selected on the spot, and we have no authority over any other ballots."

Immediately after Special Prosecutor Lee left the scene, about 10 opposition observers, including People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk and Supreme Council member Kim Min-su, staged a sit-in protest until dawn to block the transport in front of the verified ballot boxes.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.