(LEAD) Special counsel says 30 local election commissions falsely entered voter turnout data

Seoul, October 15 - A special counsel team has revealed that 30 local election commissions in South Korea improperly recorded voter turnout data during the June 3 local elections, according to its investigation. Special counsel Lee Tae-han's team discovered the false alterations by examining turnout records and interviewing over 70 election workers. Despite ultimately entering the correct voter turnout numbers, the commissions are accused of manipulating the figures as the voting process was underway.

The special counsel team conducted searches at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, located south of Seoul, as well as six local offices across the nation, including Busan's Nam Ward. Additionally, they investigated Busan's local election commission and nine other locations to gather evidence supporting allegations of preferential treatment in contracts for storing election supplies.

The investigation uncovered evidence that local election commissions in Busan, along with South Gyeongsang and North Gyeongsang provinces, had signed exclusive storage agreements with specific companies since 2022, resulting in preferential treatment.

The special counsel team was established last month to investigate reported ballot shortages across the country during the June elections, as well as allegations of election data manipulation and other misconduct by the election watchdog.