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Same names, stampless ballots keep election commission busy as voting irregularities pop up

Published: 03 Jun. 2025, 16:52

A voter in Busan casts his ballot on June 3, the day of Korea's 21st presidential election. [NEWS1]

Several voting irregularities were reported during Tuesday's presidential election in Gangwon, including a voter mistakenly turned away and ballots distributed without proper authentication.

At a polling station in Chuncheon, a voter was denied a ballot after an election official incorrectly believed they had already voted. The confusion stemmed from a signature recorded under the voter’s name by someone with a similar name, according to the Gangwon election commission. Officials later acknowledged the error, contacted the voter, and allowed them to cast their ballot.

At a polling station in Inje, Gangwon, a resident raised a complaint after receiving a ballot without the official stamp of the polling station supervisor. An investigation revealed that around 10 such unstamped ballots had been distributed and marked by voters.

“Due to the high volume of voters, some ballots were mistakenly handed out before the official stamp could be applied,” an election commission official said. “However, those ballots will still be counted as valid.”

In another incident in Chuncheon, an elderly woman in her 80s arrived at a polling station at around 6:17 a.m. only to be informed that she had already voted during the early voting period. She returned three hours later with an acquaintance and attempted to vote again, saying she did not remember casting a ballot.

The commission is investigating the incident to determine whether the second attempt was due to memory issues or intentional double voting, based in part on testimony from the woman’s acquaintance.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]