The Election Commission Apologizes for Early Voting Confusion, Assures No Fraud Implications
On the afternoon of the 5th, the second day of early voting for the 20th presidential election, confirmed and quarantined individuals lined up to cast their early votes at the Sangmu 1-dong early voting station set up at the Student Education and Culture Center in Seo-gu, Gwangju. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Amid controversy over poor management during the early voting process for COVID-19 confirmed and quarantined voters, a local government official who worked as an election staff member at the time criticized the Central Election Commission officials and those responsible, demanding strict punishment.
On the 6th, a petition titled "We urge severe disciplinary action against those responsible for the Central Election Commission's hasty administration and a complete overhaul of the election work system" was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. This petition has currently met the requirement of over 100 preliminary endorsements and is under review by an administrator.
The petitioner, identified as Mr. A, who works at the same administrative welfare center and plans to serve as an election staff member again for the main vote on the 9th, opened by saying, "As a practitioner conducting the election and as a citizen, I was deeply angered by the Central Election Commission's way of handling tasks and their attitude while preparing for the 20th presidential election and conducting early voting. I believed it was necessary to publicize this and demand accountability."
He continued, "Before early voting, guidelines were issued to secure separate polling stations for confirmed and quarantined voters to guarantee their voting rights. Up to this point, it was already a challenge for those on the ground preparing, but the core issue at hand is that the Central Election Commission instructed that since separate ballot boxes could not be placed at the confirmed voter polling stations, election staff were to collect the marked ballots and deliver them to the ballot boxes at the non-confirmed voter polling stations."
He said, "From the moment I first saw this instruction, I was incredulous and sighed in disbelief. It seems that many local governments officially or unofficially protested this. Even as a rookie public official conducting an election for the first time, I saw many potential problems, and it was clear that incidents like what happened yesterday would occur," he sharply criticized.
Mr. A added, "Whether the marked ballots were stored in plastic bags or glossy plastic boxes, the fact that voters could not directly place their ballots into the ballot box clearly violates the constitutional principles of direct and secret elections."
He also pointed out, "In early voting, to issue a ballot, there is a procedure to verify the voter's identity and input a fingerprint or signature. However, during the actual voting of confirmed patients, all of this was ignored, and election staff entered the information on their behalf and issued ballots. This act shows the Central Election Commission's irresponsible attitude in a nutshell."
Furthermore, he emphasized, "Those responsible for deciding overlapping operating hours for general voter polling stations and confirmed voter polling stations during this early voting, as well as the officials who instructed election staff to collect marked ballots and deliver them to the ballot boxes, must be strictly punished and made an example of to prevent such incidents from happening again."
Meanwhile, on the second and final day of early voting on the 5th, controversies over 'poor management of early voting' arose nationwide. Marked ballots cast by confirmed and quarantined voters at temporary polling stations were transported to ballot boxes in plastic bags, paper boxes, shopping bags, or plastic baskets, causing problems. Additionally, cases of defective ballots being distributed were also reported.
As the controversy grew, the Central Election Commission issued a statement the next day, saying, "We deeply regret and apologize for the inconvenience caused during early voting. Our commission takes this matter seriously and will accurately identify and thoroughly review the revealed issues to promptly prepare measures so that citizens can vote with confidence on election day."
However, the commission emphasized, "The temporary polling station voting method implemented this time was in accordance with laws and regulations. We guaranteed the observation of all processes by party-nominated observers, so there is absolutely no possibility of fraud."
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