Recount Underway for Tongyeong Mayoral Election Decided by 44 Votes ... Objections Continue

The recount for the Tongyeong mayoral election in Gyeongnam—which was decided by a margin of 44 votes during the 9th nationwide simultaneous local elections held on June 3—began in the afternoon of July 27 at the Gyeongnam Election Commission.

The Gyeongnam Election Commission started the recount procedures around 2:00 p.m. after transferring the ballot storage box for the Tongyeong mayoral election from the Tongyeong City Election Commission to the Gyeongnam Election Commission earlier that day.

The recount was delayed due to a series of objections, including the absence of closed-circuit (CC)TVs at the ballot storage location, changes reported in voter information immediately following the closing of the polls, insufficient sealing of the ballot storage box, and requests to video record the recount process. As a result, the full-scale recount only commenced at approximately 3:32 p.m.

Cheon Younggi, former mayor of Tongyeong, Gyeongnam, and Jeon Hangil, former Korean history instructor, are observing the recount for the Tongyeong mayoral election of the 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections being conducted at the Gyeongnam Election Commission.
[Photo by Se-ryeong Lee]

The recount process involves opening each ballot storage box, checking each ballot for which candidate was selected, and separately collecting disputed ballots, which are then judged in a meeting convened by the election commission officials.

Attending the recount were Cheon Younggi, the former mayor of Tongyeong who filed the objection, a representative from the Tongyeong Election Commission as the respondent, and a representative for the winning candidate, current Tongyeong Mayor Kang Sukju.

Additionally, a total of 24 observers—12 each from the camps of former Mayor Cheon and incumbent Mayor Kang, including Jeon Hangil, former Korean history instructor—monitored the recount process.

The observers took seats at each of the three ballot review sections, examining whether the official seal was properly stamped on the ballots, if ink marks from the ballot stamp had bled through to the back, and whether the official marking tool was used, raising objections as needed.

A box containing the ballot papers for the 9th Nationwide Local Elections Tongyeong mayoral election in Gyeongnam is being escorted by the police into the Gyeongnam Election Commission building.
Photo by Lee Seryung

In the Tongyeong mayoral election, three candidates ran. Out of a total of 69,693 votes cast, Kang Sukju of the Democratic Party of Korea received 33,626 votes; Cheon Younggi of the People Power Party, former Tongyeong mayor, received 33,582 votes; and independent candidate Park Cheongjeong received 1,455 votes, resulting in Kang being elected mayor.

Following the election, former mayor Cheon's camp filed an objection, citing the possibility of mechanical errors or mistakes in judgment criteria during the ballot counting and review process after the local elections. They also pointed out that with 1,030 invalid ballots, this number exceeded the 44-vote margin by which Kang was elected.

The result of the recount was originally expected to be announced around 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. that day. However, due to multiple objections, it took a full hour to review just the first ballot storage box containing about 1,700 ballots, and further objections continued to delay the process.

Approximately 330 police officers from Changwon Jungbu Police Station and the Gyeongnam Provincial Police's special units were deployed inside and outside the Gyeongnam Election Commission office to secure the recount site.

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