Massive vote-count error found in Siheung during June 3 local elections

Approximately 3,600 votes were misrecorded within a single hour in Siheung, Gyeonggi, on the day of the June 3 local elections, according to data submitted to Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party on Tuesday. 

Siheung's cumulative vote count rose from 22,914 at 9 a.m. to 42,482 at 10 a.m. on Election Day, a 4.42 percent jump, according to data local news outlet Yonhap obtained from Kim's office. That amounts to an increase of 19,568 votes in a single hour.

However, the National Election Commission (NEC) explained that election officials in Siheung's Jeongwangbon-dong, Yeonseon-dong and Neunggok-dong neighborhoods had failed to press the vote-count registration button when reporting the 9 a.m. figures. The Siheung election commission overlooked the omission and pressed the button to report data at the district level regardless, leaving 3,612 votes unaccounted for. The Siheung election commission later discovered the error and the included the missing figures in its 10 a.m. report, the NEC said.

When the missing votes from the three neighborhoods were factored in, Siheung's cumulative vote count rose from 26,526 at 9 a.m. to 38,870 at 10 a.m. — an increase of 12,344 votes, or 2.79 percent, over the hour. That figure differs by 1.63 percentage points from the increase the NEC had originally announced.

Some analysts say the flawed vote-count data may have distorted the picture of regional voter turnout on Election Day. The NEC had earlier announced that, as of 9 a.m. on Election Day, Siheung recorded the lowest turnout among Gyeonggi's electoral districts, at 5.2 percent. Given that roughly 3,600 votes were left out at the time, the turnout rankings among districts could have shifted if the correct figures had been accurately reflected.

Under the NEC's reporting structure, election managers at polling stations report vote counts by phone to their township or neighborhood committee, which then relays the data to the district committee through the election management system. The district committee then transmits the vote count to the provincial committee and the NEC through the vote count reporting system.

The joint investigation team of prosecutors and police looking into allegations that election officials manipulated vote statistics is continuing its investigation on the theory that, rather than correcting errors in reported vote counts through normal procedures, officials manipulated turnout figures by entering vote counts in a piecemeal fashion.

“Even from analyzing just one previously unexamined area in Gyeonggi, our office found evidence of turnout manipulation. Similar patterns are being confirmed in statistics from other regions as well,” Kim said. “We plan to submit the relevant data to investigative authorities.”

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]