Election Commission Special Prosecutor Raids 10 Locations, Including Regional Commissions, Over 'Warehouse Contract Favoritism' Allegations

Signs of multiyear contracts with a particular company

Breach of trust in business and bid interference alleged

Homes of election commission officials also targeted

The special prosecutor team of the National Election Commission raided 10 locations on October 15, including regional election commissions and the homes of commission officials, as part of an investigation into allegations of exclusive preferential treatment in contracts for storing election supplies.

Lee Taehan, special prosecutor investigating the ballot shortage and other incidents during the June 3 local elections. Yonhap News Agency

Starting that morning, the team executed search warrants on suspicion of breach of trust in business and bid interference at three provincial and metropolitan election commissions, including those in Busan, Gyeongnam and Gyeongbuk, and five city, county and district election commissions in Chilgok and Nam-gu, Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province; Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province; Dongnae-gu, Busan; and Ulju-gun, Ulsan. The search targets also included the Election Training Institute in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and the homes of election commission officials. A total of 34 people, including 10 digital forensics investigators, were deployed for the searches.

The special prosecutor team said it had uncovered evidence that the Busan, Gyeongnam and Gyeongbuk election commissions had repeatedly signed contracts with a particular company since 2022 to store election supplies, so-called "warehouse contracts," granting it exclusive preferential treatment. The team plans to determine how the contracts were awarded and whether preferential treatment was given based on its analysis of the seized materials.

"Evidence of collusion with a particular company has been found not only at the National Election Commission but also at regional election commissions," the team said. "We will uncover structural corruption across the board in the lax management of election commissions at every level and hold those responsible strictly accountable."

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