![National Election Commission officials conduct a recount of ballots from the Buk-gu District 1 Busan City Council race, which was decided by a 26-vote margin in the June 3 local elections, at the Busan National Election Commission office in Yeonje-gu, Busan. [Newsis]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/07/27/news-p.v1.20260727.f6764a84f4534c248b0e72ff6bfc8ad6_P1.jpg)
A recount of the Tongyeong mayoral race in South Gyeongsang Province — decided by just 44 votes in the June 3 local elections — is set to begin Monday.
The South Gyeongsang Province National Election Commission said the recount, tied to an election nullification petition, will begin at 2 p.m., with results expected around 7 to 8 p.m.
Three candidates ran in the Tongyeong mayoral race.
Of the 69,693 total ballots cast, former Mayor Cheon Yeong-gi, who filed the nullification petition, received 33,582 votes (48.90%), falling short of winner Kang Seok-ju's 33,626 votes (48.97%) by just 44 votes, or 0.07 percentage points.
Independent candidate Park Cheong-jeong received 1,455 votes, while 1,030 ballots were ruled invalid.
The recount will be conducted by hand, with officials examining every ballot individually.
Election commission staff will go through all ballots one by one, with representatives from both Cheon's and Kang's camps and election commissioners present as observers.
Invalid and contested ballots will be reviewed separately by the election commission together with representatives of both sides.
The provincial election commission will use the recount results to decide whether to accept, reject or dismiss the nullification petition.
Cheon filed the nullification petition on June 17, arguing that "there were errors in the ballot-sorting machine system itself during the counting and verification process that require a review."
The full cost of the recount — 19.22 million won ($6,290) — will be borne by Cheon, who filed the petition.
husn7@heraldcorp.com
