Police investigating a ballot shortage that disrupted voting on June 3 launched simultaneous raids Thursday on offices of the National Election Commission and regional election bodies across the country.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's wide-area investigation unit, which was assigned the case, sent investigators to seven locations starting at 9 a.m. Thursday: the NEC headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province; the Seoul Election Commission in Jongno-gu; and district election offices in Songpa-gu, Seocho-gu, Gangnam, Gwangjin-gu and Dongjak-gu. The search and seizure warrants cited suspected violations of the Public Official Election Management Act and dereliction of duty.
More than 100 personnel — including investigators from the wide-area unit, the Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters and digital forensics specialists from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency — were divided into teams to execute the warrants. About a dozen prosecutors and investigators from a joint prosecution-police task force also participated in searches at three sites: the NEC headquarters and the Seoul and Songpa-gu election commissions.
Investigators plan to seize records documenting how the NEC developed its ballot-printing guidelines ahead of the local elections, communications between the NEC and regional offices on election day, and physical ballot boxes. The goal is to determine whether officials followed proper procedures at key decision-making points.
"We are focused on securing evidence to uncover the truth of this case, including identifying the causes of the infringement on citizens' right to vote," a police official said.
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