A woman in her 50s received a 2 million won fine for trying to vote twice during last year’s presidential election in Busan.
Double Voting Incident
The woman, referred to as A, completed early voting on May 29 at a polling station in Dongnae-gu resident center around 10:15 a.m. She then attempted to cast another vote on June 3 around 11 a.m. at a nearby main polling station.
Polling staff reviewed the voter registry and confirmed her prior early vote, blocking the duplicate attempt. Authorities verified through government records that she had already participated in early voting, despite her claims otherwise.
Court Ruling and Defense
Busan District Court Criminal Division 6 sentenced A to the fine for violating the Public Official Election Act. Presiding Judge Im Seong-cheol highlighted the severity of the offense.
A argued lack of intent, citing literacy challenges and no prior criminal record. However, the court dismissed these defenses, noting she entered the polling station post-early voting and presented her ID insisting she had not voted before.
Judge Im Seong-cheol stated, “Even after finishing early voting, she entered the polling station and showed her ID to staff, claiming no prior vote to attempt re-voting. Such actions harm election integrity and the core ‘one person, one vote’ principle.”
The judge stressed that this undermines public trust in democratic processes and shows no leniency for repeat suspicions of irregularities, as A has previously voiced distrust in the system when denied.
