The joint prosecution-police investigation team probing the truth behind the ballot paper shortage has launched a compulsory investigation after detecting circumstances of statistics tampering by National Election Commission employees.

The Joint Investigation Headquarters for Fact-Finding on the Infringement of Citizens' Right to Vote (led by Kim Tae-hoon, 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office) has been dispatching prosecutors and investigators to the Central Election Commission office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, since this morning (July 23) to secure materials including internal servers.

It has been confirmed that the search and seizure warrants list charges such as the falsification of official electronic records.

The joint investigation team previously uncovered circumstances where working-level NEC officials arbitrarily modified computerized statistical figures to cover up mistakes in misentering the number of voters during the investigation into the ballot shortage, prompting them to initiate the probe.

(Photo: Yonhap News)