Two Return Envelopes Given Due to Polling Official's Mistake
Incorrect Envelope Used Due to Voter's Error
Regret Expressed Over Suspecting the Voter
Regarding the incident involving a ballot marked for Lee Jaemyung at the early voting station in Seongbok-dong, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, the National Election Commission stated on the 18th that it was the result of a simple mistake by a polling official combined with a voter's error.
The commission explained, "At the Seongbok-dong early voting station in Suji-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, a ballot marked for a specific candidate was found in the return envelope of a voter attempting to cast an out-of-district early vote. As this was suspected to be the act of the voter, the matter was referred to the police for investigation."
On the afternoon of the 27th, one week before the 21st presidential election, employees of the National Election Commission are checking overseas ballots returned to the country at the Incheon International Airport International Postal Logistics Center. The National Election Commission, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Korea Post, verifies and sorts overseas ballots returned through diplomatic pouches from 223 overseas polling stations in 118 countries, and sends them to district and city election commissions. 2025.5.27. Photo by Kang Jinhyung
Regarding how a marked ballot ended up in the return envelope given to the voter, the commission stated, "At the Seongbok-dong early voting station, another out-of-district voter, referred to as Voter A, should have received one ballot and one return envelope, but due to a polling official's mistake, was given one ballot and two return envelopes. After properly marking the ballot, Voter A is believed to have placed the ballot into the envelope without an address label during the sealing process, returned it to the polling official, and then submitted the empty envelope with the address label into the ballot box."
The commission continued, "It is presumed that the return envelope containing the ballot, which was returned to the polling official by Voter A, was then handed to Voter B by the polling official. The empty return envelope with the address label, which had been given to Voter A, was confirmed during the commission's receipt and counting process to contain no ballot."
Additionally, "The ballot found in the return envelope returned by Voter A was publicly disclosed and invalidated, and Voter B completed the voting process normally," the commission added.
The commission stated, "This sequence of events?where a marked ballot was placed in a return envelope and then handed to another voter?was unprecedented and highly unlikely to occur. During the early voting period, there were numerous acts of interference with voting by groups alleging election fraud, which caused considerable confusion at polling stations. Therefore, we promptly requested an investigation to clarify the facts."
The commission further stated, "We regret having suspected Voter B in relation to this incident, and clarify that the polling official's provision of two return envelopes to Voter A was a simple mistake."
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