중앙선관위 “투표율 오입력, 부실관리 인정하지만 부정선거는 아냐”

The Central Election Management Commission acknowledged a problem with overestimating voter numbers, but denied allegations of maladministration and thus rejected the claim of fraudulent elections. The Korean Citizens' Party responded with indignation, stating that the Election Commission was denying any wrongdoing. Central Election Commission Deputy General Manager Kang Dong-wan acknowledged in a parliamentary hearing on June 3 that there were shortcomings in their handling of polling data, but affirmed that this did not indicate any sinister intent on the part of the Election Commission.

He emphasized that there were unavoidable limitations in the online analog process of compiling and publicly disclosing voter numbers, even in the advanced era. National Assembly deputies from the Korean Citizens' Party expressed their outrage, with Representative Jin Woo insisting that the manipulation was clearly evident and demanding a firm condemnation from the Election Commission Chairwoman Kim Eui-shin that she restate her position as "adjustment" rather than "manipulation."

Chairwoman Kim requested that the Chairwoman specify what actions she would take to rectify the situation. In response, Chairwoman Kim stated that the final vote count matched the statistics, but that the public's suspicion of vote manipulation must be addressed with genuine contrition. Former Central Election Commission Chairman Tae-ak No apologized for the mistake and vowed that such an incident would never happen again in the future.

Central Election Commission Vice Chairman Gwang Su acknowledged the need for a comprehensive overhaul of the system before the next election.