[Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]
[Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]

Writer and broadcaster Heo Ji-woong has drawn widespread attention for sharply criticizing the National Election Commission after the agency faced allegations of manipulating voter turnout data, following an unprecedented ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections.

Heo posted on his social media Thursday, saying, "I have never seen an organization as incompetent and dirty as the NEC. Not even the old military comes close. It stands in a class of its own."

He added: "What has already come to light is staggering, but now they apparently entered voter counts incorrectly — rounding up from the hundreds to the thousands — and then made arbitrary corrections without following proper procedures. This is falsified voter turnout data. It's manipulation. Even a kid rushing to fill in a diary at the end of summer vacation would put in more effort than this."

Heo also called for investigations into past irregularities and demanded severe punishment for those responsible.

"We need a comprehensive investigation going all the way back," he said. "The statute of limitations for a civil servant illegally interfering in an election is 10 years, so let's go back 10 years. Anyone found to have done wrong should face the maximum sentence allowed by law."

He also stressed the need for NEC reform and a constitutional amendment to enable it.

"There can never be a ruling-party side or an opposition side on something like this," Heo said. "A special law won't cut it — work together and push through a single-issue constitutional amendment right now. The NEC is a constitutional body. No constitutional reform, no real reform."

He reserved his harshest words for those he saw as exploiting the issue for political gain. "Those who spout useless talk are trying to use the NEC problem for their own political ends, and they are the worst of all," he said. "Every available resource must be thrown into reforming the NEC. If things stay as they are, no one will accept any election result."

Heo went on to say, "Tear it apart again and again — ten times, a hundred times — until not a blade of grass can grow. Then rebuild it from a blank page. This is an organization that cannot be fixed by patching it up. The joint investigation team is working hard, but it is too slow and faces legal limits."

Meanwhile, the joint prosecution-police investigation team, led by Kim Tae-hun, executed search and seizure warrants Thursday after detecting signs that one National Election Commission official and one Gyeonggi Province Election Commission official had falsely entered voter turnout figures.

The team executed the warrants at each official's office on charges of falsifying official electronic records and obstruction of official duties.


ygmoon@heraldcorp.com