The Special Prosecutors' team investigating the June 3 local elections has uncovered evidence suggesting manipulation of the Gyeonggi Education Superintendent election results.
Beginning on the morning of November 10, the Special Prosecutors conducted search and seizure operations at the Gyeonggi and Gwangju election commissions related to allegations of concealing and forging election result documents. A total of 11 personnel were involved in the operation, including one prosecutor, eight investigators, and two forensic investigators.
Previously, the Gyeonggi Election Commission issued a public apology on June 11 for incorrectly entering the election results.
During a thorough verification process of the voting records submitted by each polling station, the Gyeonggi Election Commission identified erroneous entries from the Seongnam Jungwon and Gwangju election commissions concerning the education superintendent election. The counting centers prepare a report detailing the number of votes for each candidate and the number of invalid votes based on the voting records.
In the case of the Gwangju election commission, it was confirmed that a counting staff member mistakenly entered the results from the 9th polling station as those from the 2nd polling station. Although the error was identified and the results from the 9th polling station were corrected, the previously misentered results from the 2nd polling station were not amended, leading to duplicate entries for the results from both polling stations.
While investigating the erroneous entry incident at the Gwangju election commission, the Special Prosecutors discovered that a staff member had concealed and forged the election result documents, altering the actual results. They are also looking into indications of involvement by the Gwangju election commission to cover up the concealment and forgery.
A spokesperson for the Special Prosecutors stated, "We are conducting search and seizure operations based on warrants issued by the court for violations of the Public Official Election Act to clearly confirm the related allegations and determine whether there was organized involvement."
The spokesperson added, "The concealment and forgery of election result documents by election commission staff is a serious crime that undermines the foundations of democracy and fundamentally damages the fairness of the electoral system. Therefore, the Special Prosecutors' team will clarify the facts and prevent recurrence to ensure accountability."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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