Joint Investigation Team Conducts Additional Searches at Election Commissions in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and North Chungcheong Over ‘Statistics Manipulation’ Allegations

Compulsory Investigations Expanded from Gimpo, Uiwang, and Jincheon to Gangnam and Seocho
Tracing the Creation and Implementation of the Central Election Commission's 'Manipulation Directive'

The joint investigation headquarters composed of prosecutors and police, which is probing allegations of vote statistics manipulation by the Central Election Commission, launched additional compulsory investigations on August 7 targeting election commissions in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and North Chungcheong Province.

Officials from the Joint Investigation Headquarters, having completed the raid, are exiting the Gwacheon Central Election Commission. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The joint investigation team, officially named the Joint Headquarters for the Investigation of Infringement on the People’s Suffrage (headed by Kim Taehoon, Third Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office), announced through a press briefing that it was conducting searches and seizures at the Central Election Commission, as well as the election commissions of Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, North Chungcheong Province, Gimpo City, Uiwang City, Jincheon County, and Seoul's Seocho and Gangnam District election commissions. According to reports, the search and seizure warrant specifies allegations including falsification of official electronic records and obstruction of official duties.

The investigation team captured evidence indicating that, during the June 3 local elections, some election commission staff intentionally altered statistical figures in the election management system in order to conceal instances where the number of voters had been entered incorrectly. Instead of reporting the misentries to higher authorities and correcting them through proper approval channels, as required, numbers were arbitrarily changed without following protocol.

It was also confirmed that, on the day of the election, a Central Election Commission official delivered instructions to city and provincial election commissions stating that, “as a rule, do not make corrections even if errors in the number of voters occur,” and, “unless a major error is present, you may adjust the reported voter numbers at the time of the next reporting.”

Subsequently, when inquiries regarding actual erroneous entries were received from places such as Gimpo, the Central Election Commission reportedly created and sent Excel files specifying detailed methods and figures for statistical adjustments.

After conducting its first round of search and seizure operations at the Central Election Commission and related offices on July 23, the joint investigation team continued questioning those involved and analyzing materials. During this process, indications of statistical manipulation were found to be widespread beyond the initially identified regions, which led to additional searches and seizures.

The investigation team plans to determine how the related directives from the Central Election Commission were drafted and communicated, and how each regional election commission implemented them. So far, regions where concrete evidence of manipulation has emerged include Gimpo and Uiwang in Gyeonggi Province, Jincheon in North Chungcheong Province, and Seoul’s Gangnam and Seocho districts.

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