Election Day misdeeds reported nationwide

A voter submits her ballot into a ballot box at a polling station in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Wednesday [YONHAP]

Election-related mischief and mishaps took place throughout the country on Wednesday, including cases where people tried to open a ballot box or attempted to block others from entering a polling station.

In Goyang, Gyeonggi, local police arrested a woman in her 60s for suspicion of violating the Public Official Election Act. The woman is accused of allegedly damaging a ballot box in a polling station set up at Jangseong Middle School in Daehwa-dong in Goyang at around 1:15 p.m. Wednesday.

She reportedly put her ballot in the ballot box before breaking the box’s seal. The police responded after receiving a report from an election clerk and escorted the woman from the scene to a nearby police station.

In another case, a candidate from a minor political party was reported to the police for causing a disturbance and trying to block voters from entering a polling station in Daejeon.

The candidate surnamed Lee is accused of interfering with voting procedures by blocking the entrance to the polling station when his request to change the ballot paper was not accepted at a station in Seo District in western Daejeon, according to the Daejeon Seo District Election Commission.

Due to Lee’s attempt to block voters from entering the polling station, voting was halted for around 40 minutes. Lee also broadcasted his actions live through an internet broadcasting session.

In Busan, a man in his 80s is under police investigation for causing disruption and tearing up ballot paper at a polling station in Gijang District in eastern Busan.

The man, who visited the polling station with his caregiver at around 2 p.m. Wednesday, is accused of allegedly tearing up ballot paper in anger during an argument when he first accidentally tore a ballot paper and demanded a replacement.

Anyone who conceals, deliberately destroys or damages ballot papers or voting materials faces up to 10 years in jail or a fine.

Accidents also occurred in Ulsan, where a voter at a polling station in Hakseong-dong in central Ulsan checked the voter list according to procedures and discovered that a signature had already been written next to his name.

When the voter protested to an election clerk, he was told there seemed to have been a mistake with his signature because another voter with the same name had signed in his place.

After some confusion, the voter signed next to the already signed name on the document and returned home.

Also in Ulsan, a voter in his 50s started yelling and causing a commotion at a polling station in Suam-dong in the southern part of the city, complaining that the station was too far from his house. The voter, who appeared to be drunk, returned home after an election clerk stopped him and called the police.

Water pipes at a polling station set up at an elementary school in Bucheon, Gyeonggi, leaked around 1 p.m., halting voting for about 25 minutes.

The nearby fire station was dispatched to the scene, and firefighters attended to the pipes and transported election materials. After an agreement with Bucheon City and the National Election Commission, voting booths were moved to a separate lobby within the school, and voting resumed.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]