Vote Count Errors Emerge in Jeonbuk Education Superintendent Election
Irregularities have been discovered in the vote tabulation process for the Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province Superintendent of Education during the 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections held on June 3rd. It has been confirmed that the results from one polling station were not included in the final published tally, while results from another polling station were erroneously duplicated.
Specifically, the vote count from Polling Station 1 in Junghwasan 1-dong, Jeonju City, was omitted from the official results. Concurrently, the results from Polling Station 3 in the same district were mistakenly reported twice. These errors follow a series of issues nationwide, including a shortage of ballot papers, and have intensified concerns regarding the management of election processes by the Election Commission.
Details of the Tabulation Error
The Jeonbuk Election Commission stated in a press release on the 11th that they are proceeding with the correction process for the vote tabulation error concerning the Jeonbuk Superintendent of Education election. The commission explained that the error occurred because the Jeonju City and Wansan District Election Commissions failed to identify that the ballots from Polling Station 3 in Junghwasan 1-dong had been incorrectly labeled as belonging to Polling Station 1 during the tabulation process.
The tabulation was conducted based on these mislabeled ballots. Consequently, the results from Polling Station 3 were mistakenly recorded and reported as the results for Polling Station 1. While the vote count for Polling Station 1 was correctly prepared up to the summary sheet stage, it was ultimately not included in the final report. Instead, the results from Polling Station 3 were entered and reported twice, once as the results for Polling Station 1 and again for Polling Station 3.
Impact on Vote Numbers
The actual vote count for Polling Station 1 in Junghwasan 1-dong was 1,104 ballots. In this station, candidate Lee Nam-ho received 462 votes, and candidate Chun Ho-sung received 597 votes, with 45 invalid ballots. However, the published results incorrectly listed the votes from Polling Station 3 as the results for Polling Station 1, with Lee Nam-ho receiving 400 votes, Chun Ho-sung receiving 554 votes, and 40 invalid ballots.
This discrepancy resulted in a difference of 110 votes between the actual and published vote counts for the Jeonbuk Superintendent of Education election overall. Specifically, Lee Nam-ho’s vote count was understated by 62 votes, Chun Ho-sung’s by 43 votes, and invalid ballots by 5 votes. Consequently, the reported vote difference between the two candidates was 118,644, which is 19 votes more than the actual difference of 118,625.
Correction Process and Future Measures
The Jeonbuk Election Commission asserts that correcting this error will not affect the election outcome. Based on the published results, Chun Ho-sung secured 506,187 votes, and Lee Nam-ho received 387,543 votes. If the actual vote counts were applied, Chun Ho-sung would have received 506,230 votes, and Lee Nam-ho 387,605 votes.
The incorrect tabulation was identified early on the morning of June 4th, the day after the election. Officials at the Wansan District Election Commission discovered the mislabeled ballots from Polling Station 3 around 3-4 AM. While six elections were held in Junghwasan 1-dong, including the Superintendent of Education race, the other five elections were correctly processed with the polling station designation corrected to Polling Station 3. However, the error in the Superintendent of Education election results was not rectified at that time.
The Jeonbuk Election Commission became aware of the incorrect tabulation for Polling Station 1 on June 5th, after the Wansan District Election Commission had completed its overall tabulation and final reporting. Following this, the matter was reported to the National Election Commission, and after discussions with both the Wansan and Jeonbuk Election Commissions, a decision was made to first correct the misrecorded vote counts in the tabulation logs and election records.
The incorrect results published in the election statistics system will be corrected after obtaining approval from the National Election Commission. The Jeonbuk Election Commission stated that according to election law, significant tabulation errors must be corrected within 10 days after the election. However, they noted that the scope and method for correcting minor tabulation errors that do not impact the election outcome are not explicitly defined in the regulations, and therefore, the correction of published results requires careful consideration.
The Jeonbuk Election Commission will hold a meeting to rectify the vote count and release the accurate results. They also plan to provide the candidates for Jeonbuk Superintendent of Education with detailed information regarding the situation and the corrective actions taken.
A representative from the Jeonbuk Election Commission expressed deep regret and apologies for the error in the tabulation process, emphasizing the importance of accurately reflecting voters’ intentions in election results. The commission pledged to conduct a thorough review of the vote and tabulation management system to enhance credibility and implement robust improvements to prevent future mistakes.
