In this photo provided by a reader on March 6, 2022, two ballots handed out to voters have existing stamp marks next to two candidates, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party.
SEOUL, March 6 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s national election commission on Sunday apologized for an alleged poor management of the early voting for the March 9 presidential election, but it dismissed any suggestion of electoral foul play.
“We are sorry and regretful for having caused inconvenience during the early voting for COVID-19 patients yesterday,” the National Election Commission (NEC) said in a statement, vowing to swiftly address the issue for the upcoming election day.
The two-day early voting ended Saturday with a record turnout of 36.93 percent, reflecting high voter interest in what is expected to be one of the closest presidential races in history.
Polling stations accommodated COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine for one hour starting at 5 p.m., during which some voters complained over long waiting times and possible electoral fraud as their ballots were collected in boxes or shopping bags instead of regular ballot boxes.
At a polling station in the southeastern port city of Busan, six voters received ballots with existing stamp marks next to candidates.
President Moon Jae-in also expressed regret over the controversy, saying the commission should explain details of what happened.
“The National Election Commission needs to provide a detailed and thorough explanation for the people to understand what exactly happened,” Moon said, according to his spokesperson, Park Kyung-mee.
A citizen wearing a sanitary glove receives a ballot on the second day of early voting for the presidential election in Seoul on March 5, 2022, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)
Leading presidential candidates, former Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party and former Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party, also urged measures to prevent similar accidents from recurring on the election day.
“The NEC and the authorities should take thorough measures to make sure such inconvenience and confusion are not repeated on the March 9 election day,” Lee wrote in a Facebook post.
Yoon also “strongly urged” officials to have “a grave sense of responsibility and put utmost efforts in managing the election.”
Following the criticism, the commission said it will hold an emergency meeting on Monday.
Amid an intense public outcry over the poor management of the early voting, the commission released a separate statement late Sunday, saying it will come up with special measures to prevent recurrence of similar incidents.
Health authorities also said they will come up with measures to better handle COVID-19 patients’ voting on Wednesday.
The upcoming election has shaped up to be a two-way race between Lee and Yoon.
In the polls, the two have long competed within the margin of error at around 40 percent support each.
More than 44 million people are eligible to vote in this year’s election. Voting for overseas South Koreans took place over six days until Feb. 28, while sailors aboard ships cast their ballots from March 1-4.
(Yonhap)
