"How Similar Were They?... 'Used Cousin's ID and Passed'—Bizarre Incident at Early Voting Station"

Effectiveness of Fingerprint Verification Process Questioned
Cousin Unable to Vote Receives Special Arrangement for Following Day

An incident occurred in Daegu where a person cast an early vote using their cousin’s identification card.

According to Yonhap News on May 31, on the first day of early voting for the June 3 local elections, which took place on May 29, a person identified as B visited an early voting station in Daegu in the morning with their cousin A, who has mobility difficulties, and a caregiver. B presented A’s identification card and cast a vote.

B was able to complete the voting process without any particular interference. About 10 minutes later, when A entered the polling station, the system had already marked A as having voted, so A was unable to exercise their voting rights that day.

Voters are casting their ballots at an early voting station set up at the Jeonbuk Provincial Government Office. This is a stock photo unrelated to the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

An official from the Daegu City Election Commission explained, “B has such difficulty moving that they require a walking aid, so A was carrying the identification card, and it appears A entered the polling station first and voted.” The official added, “A and B have very similar appearances and addresses, which likely contributed to the incident.”

The election commission took administrative measures to allow the affected person to vote, but controversy remains over whether the voter identification process worked properly. In particular, since the fingerprint identification process at polling stations does not link with the resident registration system, it failed to prevent the voting, highlighting concerns about the effectiveness of the identification procedure.

Regarding this, the official stated, “Before voting, we check identification cards and take fingerprints, but the system does not verify an individual’s identity by linking with the resident registration system. The fingerprint scan is only used to record participation in voting.”

The election commission allowed A, who was unable to vote, to participate in early voting the following day. B, who had already completed the voting, was restricted from voting again at any other early voting station or on the main election day.

Early Voting Rate Reaches Record High of 23.51%

Meanwhile, the final early voting rate for the 9th nationwide local elections and parliamentary by-elections, held over two days from May 29, was 23.51%, setting a new record. Out of 44,649,908 eligible voters nationwide, 10,498,411 participated in early voting. This is the first time in local election history that the number of early voters surpassed 10 million. However, it was lower than the rate recorded in the most recent nationwide election.

The main election will be held on June 3 from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and voting is only allowed at the designated polling stations based on the voter’s registered address.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.