Police raid North Jeolla election offices over alleged vote-count error coverup
Investigators are probing whether North Jeolla election officials concealed a vote-count input error involving more than 1,000 ballots in the education superintendent race.
Kim Ho-chun, chair of the local election office in Wansan Distrct of Jeonju, North Jeolla, answers reporters' questions about the vote counting error on June 11.NEWS1
Police raided election commission offices in Jeonju, North Jeolla, as part of an investigation into a vote-count input error during the tally for the June 3 election for the provincial education superintendent.
Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency raided the Jeonbuk Provincial Election Commission office and a local election office in Jeonju's Wansan District on Thursday.
The investigation began after allegations emerged that the Jeonbuk Provincial Election Commission attempted to conceal a vote-count input error that omitted the results of more than 1,000 voters in the region's education superintendent election, despite becoming aware of the problem shortly after the election.
The search is aimed at determining whether election commission employees were aware of the input error but failed to properly report it to commission members, thereby interfering with the members' official duties.
Police said Wednesday that several employees of the Jeonbuk Provincial Election Commission and the election office in Wansan District have been booked without detention on suspicion of obstruction of official duties by deception and other charges related to the vote-count error.
Investigators recently questioned officials from the two offices as witnesses. The investigation is focusing on how the error occurred, when officials became aware of it, the reporting and correction process and allegations of a cover-up.
At the center of the case is an error in which the vote record from Polling Station No. 3 in Junghwasan 1-dong of Wansan District was incorrectly entered as votes from Polling Station No. 1.
As a result, the vote count of 1,104 voters at Polling Station No. 1 was omitted, while the results of 994 voters at Polling Station No. 3 were entered twice.
The Jeonbuk Provincial Election Commission building in Jeonju, North Jeolla, is pictured on June 18.YONHAP
The error reduced candidate Lee Nam-ho's final vote total by 19 votes.
However, the mistake didn't affect the outcome of the election. The elected education superintendent, Cheon Ho-seong, received 506,187 votes, and Lee received 387,543 votes.
After the controversy emerged, Kim Sang-gon, chair of the Jeonbuk Provincial Election Commission, convened a meeting on June 11 to approve corrections to the vote tally.
"I sincerely apologize," Kim said after the decision.
Police suspect that the Jeonbuk Provincial Election Commission had received a verbal report from the Wansan District election office on June 4, a day before receiving a formal report regarding the omitted vote count.
Investigators believe the Jeonbuk Provincial Election Commission failed to properly inform commission members after receiving the verbal report and that the commission proceeded to issue certificates of election to the winning candidates on June 4.
Police questioned employees of the Wansan District election office on Monday and are continuing their investigation into officials at the Jeonbuk Provincial Election Commission.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
