Seoul: The National Election Commission (NEC) received a total of 72 reports of voter turnout corrections on the day of the June 3 local elections, information submitted by the watchdog to a lawmaker showed Monday: The National Election Commission (NEC) received a total of 72 reports of voter turnout corrections on the day of the June 3 local elections, information submitted by the watchdog to a lawmaker showed Monday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the NEC submitted information to Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the main opposition People Power Party, revealing that the 72 reports originated from 56 local election offices across the country. In some cases, the voter count showed significant increases, such as more than 6,000 additional voters, with corrections occurring up to 12 hours after the initial figures were reported.
The possibility of further voter turnout revisions not reported to the NEC remains, as noted by the lawmaker, considering the watchdog operates 255 branch offices nationwide. A joint prosecution-police investigation team has secured the turnout correction data and is investigating potential instances where NEC employees might have manipulated statistics without documentation.
In Incheon's Geomdan district, west of Seoul, an initial voter count of 54,665 reported at 4 p.m. on June 3 was later revised to 61,276, marking an increase of over 6,000 voters. Similarly, in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, the count at noon was adjusted from 15,634 to 19,631. In Goseong, Gangwon Province, the 11 a.m. figure was revised from 4,392 to 5,639.
At a polling station in Ansan, just south of Seoul, a clerical error recorded 41 voters as 410. In Haenam, South Jeolla Province, the voter count in the Gyeogok district was mistakenly entered as 284 instead of 84 before being corrected.
Some corrections were delayed significantly, with errors in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, at 7 a.m. not corrected until 7 p.m., and in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, a 6 p.m. turnout figure was updated at 9 p.m., after voting had concluded.