Apartment Building Representative Re-election 'Ballot Box Swap' Manipulation... Manager and Others Sentenced to Prison

Election Committee Member and Manager Sentenced to 6 Months Imprisonment

The election management committee member and the apartment management office director who swapped ballot boxes in a re-election for a building representative at an apartment in Seoul were sentenced to imprisonment.

On the 22nd, Song Hye-young, presiding judge of Criminal Division 6 at the Seoul Northern District Court, announced that election management committee member A and apartment management office director B, who were indicted on charges of obstruction of business, were each sentenced to six months in prison.

They were tried on charges of planning and executing vote manipulation to elect C as the building representative in the re-election held in November 2022 at an apartment in Jungnang-gu, Seoul. They committed the crime by producing a forged ballot box containing falsely marked ballots and swapping it with the actual ballot box.

B instructed the apartment management office staff to produce new ballot boxes and ballots, and using these, they created the forged ballot box. A and B hid the forged ballot box and ordered the management office staff to shred the ballots in the actual ballot box. Then, they carried the forged ballot box to the polling station to ensure C was elected as the building representative.

The court stated, "Their crime distorted the will of the apartment residents in the election of the building representative, undermining the fundamental spirit of democracy, which is to elect rightful representatives through fair voting. Moreover, it seriously obstructed the re-election duties of the apartment election management committee, thus requiring strict punishment."

However, the fact that they reflected on their wrongdoing and that the chairman of the apartment election management committee submitted a settlement agreement and a petition not to punish them were considered favorable circumstances.

Meanwhile, another election management committee member D, who was indicted for obstruction of business along with A and B, was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.