Election-related sculptures stand outside the National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
Election-related sculptures stand outside the National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

National Election Commission staff under investigation for allegedly manipulating voter turnout statistics told investigators there was nothing wrong with falsifying interim figures as long as the final turnout numbers came out correct, according to legal sources.

The joint police-prosecution task force investigating violations of citizens' voting rights — led by Kim Tae-hun, third deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office — secured those statements Thursday from working-level officials at the NEC headquarters and the Gyeonggi Province NEC.

The task force is investigating working-level NEC employees who managed local polling stations during the June 3 local elections on suspicion that they arbitrarily altered statistical figures in the election management system to conceal data-entry errors in voter counts.

Rather than reporting the errors to superiors and obtaining approval before making corrections — as required by procedure — the employees allegedly falsified the numbers on their own.

On Thursday, investigators raided the NEC headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as well as NEC offices in Songpa-gu, Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, seizing relevant materials.

Working-level officials at the NEC headquarters and the Gyeonggi Province NEC suspected of carrying out the manipulation were also raided on charges including falsification of electronic public records and obstruction of official duties.

During Thursday's raids, the employees acknowledged entering false data but argued that what mattered was whether the final turnout figure was correct.

Their position was that correcting earlier erroneous voter counts through subsequent adjustments — so that the numbers ultimately balanced out — meant no harm had been done.

Investigators have dismissed that reasoning as unconvincing, noting that the NEC publicly releases hourly turnout figures on election day and that voters use those real-time figures when deciding whether and when to cast their ballots.


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