National Election Commission Refutes President Yoon's Legal Team's Election Fraud Allegations
Early Voting Conducted on a 'Closed Network,' Making Manipulation Impossible
On the 21st, the National Election Commission systematically refuted the claims of election fraud raised during the impeachment trial arguments against President Yoon Seok-yeol. They stated that the allegations of election fraud lack plausibility.
Regarding the claim that the entire election management system was inadequate based on the National Intelligence Service's inspection, the Election Commission said, "During the joint security consulting in 2023, the Central Election Commission provided the system configuration diagrams, information asset status, and test accounts for system access administrators requested by the NIS in advance, and did not apply some of its own security systems such as intrusion detection and blocking." They added, "Based on this, the claim that the Election Commission's computer system is defenseless against hacking and manipulation is unacceptable."
Concerning hacking using external PCs through communication devices installed at early voting stations, they stated, "In reality, it is impossible for unauthorized devices to access the integrated registry system by bypassing multiple security layers such as system authentication and intrusion detection and blocking systems." They further explained, "To actually manipulate the system, numerous internal collaborators would be required, and all of the committee’s information protection systems would have to be disabled."
Additionally, they argued, "Voting and counting in our country are conducted through ‘physical voting’ and ‘public manual counting’ methods, with information systems and mechanical devices serving only as auxiliary tools." They emphasized, "Numerous clerks, related public officials, public institution employees, and observers participate in the voting and counting process, and the counting results can be verified through the ‘physical ballots.’"
Regarding the allegations of manipulation of ballot sorting machines, the Election Commission denied the claims made by President Yoon’s side. They stated, "The ballot sorting machines do not have LAN cards installed, so communication with external networks is cut off, making hacking or manipulation fundamentally impossible." On the possibility of manipulation via USB devices, they added, "Only secure USBs can be connected, so installing hacking programs through regular USBs is impossible."
The 8th nationwide local elections are 20 days away, as seen on the 12th at the Central Election Commission in Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@
They also explained that manipulation of early voting is impossible. The Election Commission said, "The early voting communication network is a closed network separated from the internet, and it is impossible to bypass multiple security layers to access the integrated registry system and falsely inflate the number of early voters." They added, "Early voting is conducted by marking paper ballots and placing them in ballot boxes, just like voting on election day, and the election results can be verified afterward by comparing the counting situation report with the physical paper ballots."
Regarding the controversy over stiff ballots, they explained, "The way voters fold their ballots varies: some fold once or more, some lightly roll and hold them, and others cover them with their hands without folding." They further stated, "In out-of-district early voting, since the number of candidates is small, ballots can be placed in the return envelope without folding. At the counting center, ballots are organized for insertion into the ballot sorting machine, and after passing through the sorting and counting machines, they are bundled by candidate and stored in the ballot box. As a result, any creases may soften over time."
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