The Daejeon Metropolitan Election Commission announced on May 29 that it had requested an investigation by the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency into an individual identified as A, who posted false claims about voting procedures on social media and shared them with an unspecified number of people ahead of the early voting days for the 21st presidential election.
According to the commission, A posted an image on their social media account stating, "To prevent election fraud on election day, do not forget to stamp your personal seal on the ballot. Let's not forget to stamp our personal seal on election day. I would appreciate it if you could share this message with more than 100 people," and encouraged an unspecified number of people to spread this information.
After A posted this content, it was confirmed that 26 people further disseminated similar posts on Facebook and other social media platforms, resulting in approximately 30 additional posts.
If a voter follows the incorrect instructions posted by the alleged violator and stamps their personal seal on the ballot at the (early) polling station, the vote will be considered "invalid" under Article 159 (Marking Method) and Article 179 (Invalid Votes), Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 or 7 of the law.
The Public Official Election Act stipulates that anyone who incites acts that obstruct the freedom of voters to vote through fraud, deception, or other improper means by any method, including speeches, posters, newspapers, or otherwise, shall be subject to imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 6 million won.
An official from the Daejeon Election Commission stated, "We will continue to take strict action against any acts that undermine fair election order, such as inciting voters to invalidate their votes through absurd and false claims."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
