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Voter accused of framing NEC cleared; cops now investigating NEC

Published: 08 Jul. 2025, 17:06

A voter in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, casts their ballot on June 3, the day of Korea's 21st presidential election. [YONHAP]

Police have cleared a voter accused of handing in a premarked ballot found in a return envelope at an early voting site for the 21st presidential election.

The Yongin Seobu Police Precinct in Gyeonggi said Tuesday it had decided not to refer the voter to prosecutors, citing insufficient evidence of a violation of the Public Official Election Act.

The case dates back to May 30, the last day of early voting for this year's presidential election, when an out-of-constituency voter reported to the police that a return envelope handed to them at the Seongbok-dong community service center in Suji District, Yongin, already contained a marked ballot.

At the time, the National Election Commission (NEC) said it suspected the incident was staged to disrupt the voting process, stating it would request an investigation.

However, the police concluded that the incident resulted from an error by an election official, who had mistakenly given the voter two return envelopes. The voter submitted the envelope with their marked ballot and inadvertently dropped the empty one into the ballot box instead. The out-of-constituency voter later received the envelope containing the marked ballot.

Police investigated all parties involved, including the two voters, election workers, observers and NEC officials. They reviewed phone records, surveillance footage and fingerprint analysis results from the National Forensic Service before determining there was no criminal intent.

While closing the case, police also confirmed they had launched an investigation into a separate complaint filed against NEC Chairperson Rho Tae-ak.

Following the controversy, observers at the Seongbok-dong early voting site and a civic group accused Rho of falsely accusing an innocent voter and filed complaints against him for allegedly violating the Public Official Election Act and neglecting his duties.

A police official said the investigation into the complaint against Rho is in its early stages, with interviews and scheduling still underway.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]