Special Prosecutors Confirm Falsified Voter Counts at 30 Election Offices Nationwide

Falsified Voter Counts Confirmed at 30 City, County and District Election Offices Nationwide

The special prosecution team investigating the National Election Commission (NEC) over the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections said on the 15th that it had confirmed hourly voter turnout figures were falsely entered at 30 city, county and district election offices nationwide. According to the team led by special prosecutor Lee Tae-han, the figure is six times the five offices previously known to be involved. The team explained that the findings came from analyzing election administration records obtained by stationing digital forensics investigators at the National Election Commission.

The controversy began with the local elections held on June 3. During the vote counting, some polling stations ran short of ballots, delaying voting, and questions soon arose over whether hourly voter turnout figures were being recorded inconsistently with actual voting conditions. These hourly figures are a real-time log of how many ballots were distributed and collected at each stage, and serve as a core ledger for detecting election fraud or administrative negligence.

Not a Data Entry Error, but 'Manufactured Numbers'

The prosecution's investigation found a consistent pattern in how the figures were falsified. The team said some election offices either altered voter counts or repeatedly entered values that increased by a fixed amount, regardless of the actual flow of voters. In other words, the numbers appear to have been fabricated rather than the result of accidental errors or omissions, with no relation to actual turnout trends.

The scope of the investigation is also expanding rapidly. The team conducted searches and seizures at seven locations on the day, including the South Gyeongsang Province Election Commission. With the number of targeted offices growing from the initial five to 30, questions are being raised about whether responsibility extends beyond individual district officials to the oversight and management systems of higher-level election commissions. The special prosecution team stressed, "Falsifying voter counts is a serious crime that undermines trust in the electoral system. We will focus our investigative resources on clearly establishing who is responsible."

A Lasting Wound to Electoral Trust

What makes this finding so troubling is not its scale but its nature. A ballot shortage can be explained as an administrative failure—a miscalculation of quantities. Falsifying voter counts, however, is an act that distorts the election records themselves. Trust in elections comes not from the moment ballots are cast, but from confidence that the records are accurate. That is why critics say that when the institution charged with safeguarding the records erases them, only suspicion remains.

The scandal could also affect legislative battles between the ruling and opposition parties. The opposition has consistently pushed bills to restructure the NEC and strengthen external audits, and the figure of 30 offices could bolster that legislative argument. The NEC, for its part, maintains that the misconduct of individual employees must be separated from problems of the organization as a whole, meaning disputes over the scope of responsibility are likely to intensify as the investigation produces results.

Summonses to Follow Analysis of Seized Materials

The investigation is expected to follow a predictable course. After completing digital forensic analysis of the seized materials, the team plans to summon those involved to determine how the false entries were made and whether they involved instructions or approvals. Because the number of people with data entry authority is limited, it should be relatively easy to establish who entered what values, and the key question is likely to center on whether this was an individual's shortcut or an institutional practice.

Legal ramifications—such as statute-of-limitations issues or grounds for rerunning elections—will only be assessed after investigators determine whether those responsible will be indicted and whether the falsified figures affected the vote-count results. Still, as the decision to station forensic investigators at the NEC suggests, the team already has access to the original data within the system, so the investigation is expected to move quickly.