Secretly photographing ballots, breaking doors, insisting on stamps... 'Disturbance' 'Disturbance' Busan By-election 'Polling Station Chaos' Continues

Unrest at 4·7 By-Election Busan Polling Stations... 1,800 Police Deployed, Patrols Intensified

A man in his 40s who damaged the entrance door of a polling station on the 7th, the day of the by-election, claiming he could not get a job, is being investigated for property damage.
[Image source=Busan Police Agency]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A man in his 50s who was caught photographing a ballot paper by an election commission staff member caused a disturbance by refusing to write a confirmation letter despite complying with the deletion request.

On April 7, the day of the by-election, as voting progressed, disturbances continued at various polling stations in Busan.

According to Busan Gijang Police Station, at around 10:35 a.m. on the 7th, a man in his 50s was caught photographing a ballot paper inside the third polling station in Jeonggwan-eup, Wolpyeong Village Welfare Center.

An election commission official requested deletion, which was promptly completed. When the man was asked to write a deletion confirmation letter, he protested harshly, saying, "Why should I write a deletion confirmation letter?"

Only after the election commission explained the procedure was the deletion confirmation letter completed. According to regulations, after the voter deleted the photo and provided personal information, the investigation request was dropped.

At the Dongdaesin-dong polling station in Seo-gu, a ridiculous scuffle occurred.

At around 10:29 a.m., a man in his 60s arrived at Dongdaesin 1st polling station.

Before voting, during the identity verification process, he protested that he would not stamp his own seal on the register and insisted on stamping the election commission’s seal, escalating the dispute.

The election commission explained the procedure, and the man soon completed voting normally.

A drunken man in his 40s broke the glass door of a polling station in Busan and was arrested by the police.

Busan Police Agency announced that they plan to book Mr. A, a man in his 40s, on charges of property damage.

According to the police, Mr. A smashed the glass door on the first floor of a building housing a polling station in Mora-dong, Sasang-gu, at around 10:05 a.m. that day.

Mr. A, intoxicated, caused a disturbance saying, "Welfare recipients cannot get jobs."

The police determined that since the polling station is on the second floor of the building, the damage to the first-floor glass door cannot be charged as election interference and instead applied property damage charges.

Election interference charges apply when assault or threats are made against election officials or election materials are seized, so the police judged that the first-floor entrance glass door cannot be considered election materials.

Also, the charge of causing disturbances inside or outside the polling station requires noncompliance with election officials’ orders, so it was deemed difficult to apply.

Besides these incidents, three other disturbances were reported to 112 emergency calls at polling stations in Busan by the morning, but voting has proceeded calmly without major incidents.

According to Busan Police Agency, three election-related 112 calls were received between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. that day.

At 6:02 a.m., Ms. A (female in her 50s) caused a disturbance to a voter in front of the Jwacheon 1-dong Community Center in Dong-gu.

The police who arrived at the scene confirmed that Ms. A has an intellectual disability and sent her home.

At around 6:27 a.m., an unusual disturbance occurred at the 5th polling station in Amnam-dong, Seo-gu.

Mr. B (male in his 70s) caused a commotion because he could not vote. Although he moved in on March 22, the polling station was determined based on the status as of March 16. Mr. B should have gone to the polling station in Saha-gu. The police who arrived guided him through the voting procedure, calmed him down, and sent him home.

At around 7:54 a.m., Mr. C (male in his 70s) caused a loud disturbance at the 2nd polling station in Noksan-dong, Gangseo-gu.

The police had difficulty calming Mr. C, who shouted, "There is no proper voting guidance, and the facilities are terrible."

Busan police have deployed 1,834 officers to 917 polling stations in the Busan area to strengthen patrols.

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