[2026 Parliamentary Audit] NEC's sole-source election equipment contracts criticized; PPS chief: "We'll look into it"

People Power Party Rep. Park Soo-young: "We need to take a comprehensive look at National Election Commission contracts"
Public Procurement Service: "We will examine whether the rules were exploited"

More than 88% of procurement contracts related to the National Election Commission's ballot paper sorting and counting machines and election information systems were awarded through negotiated contracts. In response to concerns about unfair business practices, Public Procurement Service Commissioner Baek Seungbo said he would step up investigations into unfair practices and improve the bidding system.

At the Public Procurement Service's parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Committee on October 15, Park Soo-young of the People Power Party said, "88.5% of the bidding contracts the NEC commissioned the Public Procurement Service to handle were negotiated contracts," adding, "We need to take a comprehensive look at the issue."

Regarding contracts for ballot sorting and counting machines, Park said, "Over the past 10 years, only two companies competed in 11 contracts, and it has been confirmed that both companies supplied the machines through negotiated contracts."

Public Procurement Service Commissioner Baek Seungbo responds during a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly’s Finance and Economy Committee at the Daejeon Government Complex on the 15th. Photo courtesy of Yonhap News.

Commissioner Baek responded, "We confirmed that the two companies' representatives are not the same person, but we need to examine whether the rules were exploited," adding, "There appear to be very strong grounds to suspect unfair practices."

Park also questioned the NEC's contracts for its election information system. He said, "From 2020 to 2023, a single company participated in the bidding and was awarded the contract through a negotiated contract, and from 2024, there are indications that only one other company submitted a bid and won the contract."

Commissioner Baek said, "We will improve the bidding system and its terms, and investigate whether unfair practices occurred after conducting an analysis."

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