South Chungcheong Provincial Assembly race in Nonsan's District 1

Initial count ends in tie; reclassification of 3 invalid ballots reverses outcome

Democratic Party of Korea candidate Ki Ho-yeop defeated People Power Party candidate Yun Gi-hyeong by a single vote in the South Chungcheong Provincial Assembly election for Nonsan District 1 in the June 3 local elections. [Daum 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections page]
Democratic Party of Korea candidate Ki Ho-yeop defeated People Power Party candidate Yun Gi-hyeong by a single vote in the South Chungcheong Provincial Assembly election for Nonsan District 1 in the June 3 local elections. [Daum 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections page]

Democratic Party of Korea candidate Ki Ho-yeop has won the South Chungcheong Provincial Assembly seat for Nonsan's District 1, defeating People Power Party rival Yun Gi-hyeong by a single vote.

According to the National Election Commission, Ki secured 11,594 votes in Wednesday's 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections, edging out Yun's 11,593 to claim a seat on the South Chungcheong Provincial Council.

The initial count produced a remarkable deadlock: both candidates received exactly 11,592 votes, a dead-even 50.0 percent apiece. With no way to determine a winner, the Nonsan Election Commission launched a detailed review of invalid ballots and conducted a manual recount.

As a result, the rulings on three ballots previously classified as invalid were reversed, flipping the outcome. Election officials reclassified two of the three as valid votes for Ki and one as a valid vote for Yun.

The final tallies were adjusted to 11,594 for Ki and 11,593 for Yun, giving Ki a dramatic victory.

All three reclassified ballots had nearly been disqualified as "partial marks" — cases where the official stamp did not land fully within a candidate's designated box, leaving only a partial impression.

Under current election rules, a partially marked ballot can be counted as valid if part of the stamp falls within a specific candidate's box and the voter's intent can be clearly determined. Ballots that also carry a partial impression of the polling officer's stamp are generally accepted as valid.

By contrast, ballots are ruled invalid when a mark straddles the boxes of two or more candidates, when it is impossible to identify which candidate was chosen, or when a voter has added separate writing or markings. Under the Public Official Election Act, the election commission holds final authority over validity determinations.

Had the recount still produced a tie, current law would have awarded the seat to the older candidate — Ki is 67 and Yun is 64, meaning Ki would have prevailed even in that scenario.

Ki earned a doctorate in education from the graduate school of Gongju National University and previously served as principal of Ganggyeong Commercial High School. He currently holds a visiting professor position at Jungbu University.


betterj@heraldcorp.com