Key facts
- The National Election Commission (NEC) received 72 reports of voter turnout corrections on the June 3 local elections.
- These reports originated from 56 local election offices nationwide.
- Some corrections involved increases of over 6,000 voters.
- Turnout figures were revised up to 12 hours after initial reporting.
- A joint prosecution-police investigation is underway regarding potential statistical manipulation.
SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's National Election Commission (NEC) received a total of 72 reports concerning corrections to voter turnout figures on the June 3 local elections, according to information submitted by the watchdog to a lawmaker.
Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the main opposition People Power Party was provided with data showing that the 72 reports came from 56 local election offices across the country. The information revealed that in some instances, the voter count was revised upwards by more than 6,000 people, and these corrections were made as late as 12 hours after the initial figures were reported.
The lawmaker noted that the possibility of additional, unreported turnout revisions cannot be dismissed, given the NEC's network of 255 branch offices nationwide. A joint prosecution-police investigation team has reportedly secured the turnout correction data and is examining whether NEC employees manipulated statistics without proper record-keeping.
Specific examples of discrepancies include Incheon's Geomdan district, where the voter count was revised from 54,665 to 61,276. In Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, the count changed from 15,634 to 19,631, and in Goseong, Gangwon Province, from 4,392 to 5,639. Ansan saw 41 voters mistakenly recorded as 410, and in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, a district's count was incorrectly entered as 284 instead of 84.
Cases of significant delays in corrections were also highlighted. In Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, an error from 7 a.m. was not fixed until 7 p.m., while in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, a 6 p.m. figure was corrected at 9 p.m., after voting concluded.