Record High Early Voting... Incidents Including Ballot Damage and Observer Assaults Occur Nationwide

On the first day of early voting for the 21st National Assembly election on the 10th, citizens are casting their precious votes at the Namyeong-dong early voting station set up at Seoul Station. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The early voting for the 21st National Assembly election, held over two days on the 10th and 11th, concluded successfully with the highest turnout ever recorded. However, various disturbances, including photographing ballots and assaulting election observers, occurred at early voting sites nationwide.

On the afternoon of the second day of early voting, the 11th, around 2:45 PM at an early voting site in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province, a man in his 60s, Mr. A, was arrested on the spot by police for assaulting an election observer. Mr. A, intoxicated, caused a disturbance after completing his ballot by saying he wanted to vote again, and is accused of hitting the observer’s face when they tried to stop him. The police investigated Mr. A and then released him, planning to forward the case to the prosecution soon.

Earlier, around 10 AM on the 10th at an early voting site in Ansan-si, Gyeonggi Province, Mr. B was reported to the police for photographing his ballot inside the voting booth and uploading it to social networking services (SNS). Current Public Official Election Act prohibits photographing ballots inside the voting booth and publicly sharing marked ballots.

On the same day, around 6 AM at an early voting site in Gwangju Metropolitan City, a man in his 40s, Mr. C, damaged his ballot and assaulted an election commission staff member present at the site. Mr. C had a conflict with the election staff during the fever check and identity verification process implemented to prevent COVID-19. After receiving his ballot, he marked it, tore it in half, placed one half in the ballot box, and scattered the other half around the voting site, causing a disturbance. Later, around 9 AM, Mr. C returned to the voting site carrying a bottle of alcohol and caused another disturbance before being arrested on the spot by police.

Additionally, around 10:10 AM on the 11th at an early voting site in Hampyeong-gun, Jeollanam-do, an election commission staff member was hit by a car. When the staff member tried to investigate after confirming that a voter had provided a vehicle, Mr. E struck the staff member with his car and fled. The Jeollanam-do election commission reported Mr. E to the prosecution on charges of obstructing official duties.

Voting site operations were also suspended due to a suspected COVID-19 symptom in an election official. Around 1:30 PM on the 11th at an early voting site in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi Province, government official Mr. D showed fever symptoms, leading to the suspension of the voting site’s operation from 2:30 PM. Authorities conducted disinfection and other quarantine measures, and Mr. D immediately underwent a COVID-19 test. He was confirmed negative later that afternoon. It was reported that quarantine rules such as mask-wearing and use of vinyl gloves were well observed at this voting site.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.