South Korea election commission faces probe over voter count and turnout manipulation

On the day of South Korea’s local elections, the National Election Commission recorded 72 voter‑count corrections across 56 local election offices, with some sites showing sudden increases of several thousand voters. The police‑prosecutor joint investigation unit (합동수사본부) has alleged that staff entered false numbers and redistributed excess counts to other polling stations, a practice described as “key‑matching” to align reported turnout figures.

The investigation, which has already conducted raids on the central election office in Gwacheon and several regional offices, has now uncovered similar falsified turnout entries in the Chungcheong region, prompting officials to consider expanding the probe nationwide. While the errors involve voter‑count and turnout statistics, no evidence has yet been found that candidate vote totals were altered. Authorities are reviewing the timing, reasons and approval procedures for each correction as the inquiry continues.