South Gyeongsang Province National Election Commission [Provided by South Gyeongsang NEC]
South Gyeongsang Province National Election Commission [Provided by South Gyeongsang NEC]

Democratic Party of Korea incumbent Kang Suk-ju has been confirmed as the winner of the Tongyeong mayoral race in South Gyeongsang Province following a recount of ballots from the June 3 local elections.

The South Gyeongsang Province National Election Commission announced Tuesday that Kang defeated People Power Party candidate Cheon Yeong-gi, a former Tongyeong mayor, by 38 votes, following a full recount conducted at the commission's main conference room in Seongsan-gu, Changwon.

The recount gave Kang 33,626 votes against Cheon's 33,588. The margin had stood at 44 votes on election night, but six ballots previously ruled invalid were reclassified as valid votes for Cheon, narrowing the gap to 38. Kang's total was unchanged. The number of invalid ballots fell from 1,030 to 1,024. The margin shrank slightly but was not enough to reverse the outcome.

The recount was triggered after Cheon filed an appeal to invalidate the election result, citing a possible malfunction in the ballot-sorting machine system. All 69,693 ballots cast were subject to verification.

The process got off to a rocky start. Cheon's camp raised objections over the sealed condition of the ballot storage boxes and a ban on video recording, delaying the opening of the first box by about an hour and 20 minutes to 3:23 p.m. Continued objections from observers on both sides pushed the final announcement to 12 hours and 40 minutes after proceedings began.

The South Gyeongsang NEC will decide by Aug. 18 whether to dismiss Cheon's appeal based on the recount findings. With the result unchanged, the appeal is widely expected to be rejected. The recount cost of about 19.22 million won ($13,100) will be borne entirely by Cheon, who filed the challenge.


ook967@heraldcorp.com