72 turnout corrections reported to election watchdog on June 3 election day

Overview

South Korea's National Election Commission (NEC) has confirmed that more than 3,600 votes were temporarily left out of turnout figures during the June 3 local elections, an error that distorted early reports and drew scrutiny from lawmakers and investigators. According to information submitted by the NEC to Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the main opposition People Power Party, the watchdog received a total of 72 reports of voter turnout corrections on election day, originating from 56 local election offices nationwide.

Key Findings

In the city of Siheung, just south of Seoul, turnout data showed 22,914 voters as of 9 a.m., but the next hourly update jumped to 42,482. The NEC attributed the surge to a failure by the local election commission to include 3,612 votes from three neighborhoods in the earlier count. Instead of revising the 9 a.m. figure, the Gyeonggi Province election office, which oversees Siheung, instructed that the votes be added to the subsequent update—leading to a distorted picture of turnout.

At the time the 9 a.m. figure was released, Siheung recorded the lowest turnout rate in Gyeonggi Province at 5.2 percent. Had the omitted votes been included, the city would likely not have ranked last, according to the data reviewed by Rep. Kim.

Beyond Siheung, the NEC's records show corrections in multiple districts. In Incheon's Geomdan district, the voter count as of 4 p.m. was initially reported as 54,665 but later revised upward to 61,276, an increase of more than 6,000. In Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, the noon figure went from 15,634 to 19,631; in Goseong, Gangwon Province, the 11 a.m. count rose from 4,392 to 5,639.

Some errors involved smaller but significant discrepancies. At a polling station in Ansan, 41 voters were mistakenly recorded as 410. In Haenam, South Jeolla Province, the voter count for the Gyeogok district was entered as 284 instead of 84 before being corrected.

In several instances, corrections came many hours after the original report. In Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, a mistake in the 7 a.m. figure was not fixed until 7 p.m. In Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, the 6 p.m. turnout was not amended until 9 p.m., well after polls had closed.

Investigation and Response

The revelations come amid an ongoing investigation into the June 3 elections. A joint prosecution-police task force, launched in June, has been examining ballot shortages that forced some voters to return without casting their ballots. The task force has already found evidence suggesting NEC officials and election workers attempted to cover up errors in turnout reporting.

Rep. Kim said she plans to submit the data she received from the NEC to investigative authorities, noting that similar patterns have been observed in other areas. The lawmaker also pointed out that the possibility of unreported revisions cannot be ruled out, given that the NEC operates 255 branch offices nationwide.

The joint investigation team has reportedly secured the turnout correction data and is looking into whether NEC employees manipulated statistics without leaving a record.

Perspectives

While the NEC has acknowledged the Siheung error as a mistake by local officials, the broader pattern of late and large corrections has raised questions about the integrity of the reporting process. The opposition lawmaker has framed the issue as one of potential data manipulation, while the investigation team continues to determine whether any criminal conduct occurred. The NEC has not publicly commented on the full scope of the 72 corrections beyond its submission to Rep. Kim.