Who Stole the Ballot Box? The Missing 'Voting Stamp' Incident in the April 7 By-Election

An Election Held Wearing Vinyl Gloves, Fingerprints Left Somewhere but No Voters Present

Busan Bukbu Police Station.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Who took the ‘voting stamp’ from the polling station and threw it away?

On the day of the April 7 by-election, an unprecedented incident occurred where a stamp at a polling station disappeared during voting and was found the next day.

According to the Bukbu Police Station in Busan on the 10th, around 12:30 PM on the 7th, when the Busan mayoral by-election was underway, the voting stamp at an outdoor temporary polling booth in Mandeok 1-dong, Buk-gu, was lost.

The polling station was located in a senior citizens’ center within an apartment complex of about 1,600 households with approximately 2,700 voters, but the missing stamp was from the outdoor temporary polling booth.

This temporary polling booth was ‘kindly’ installed outdoors in front of the main polling place for voters with fever or mobility difficulties.

A public official managing the voting noticed after lunch that the stamp was missing and the string attaching it was cut.

The voting stamp is tied to the polling station desk with a string and cannot be detached without forcibly cutting it.

Despite a thorough search, the stamp was not found, prompting the election commission and police to respond. The Bukbu Police Station also activated the fingerprint analysis team.

Since voters wore vinyl gloves during this election, fingerprints on the missing stamp were unlikely; however, fingerprints could be collected from inside the gloves, allowing the police to narrow down ‘suspects’ if the ‘crime’ was committed by a voter.

However, this too was futile. Investigations revealed that no voters cast ballots at the outdoor polling booth where the stamp disappeared on the day. In other words, no voter touched the voting stamp while wearing vinyl gloves.

Additionally, since it was an outdoor temporary location and due to secret ballot rules, there was no CCTV installed inside the polling space to rely on.

The ‘missing voting stamp’ incident was temporarily resolved the next day. On the 8th, the police resumed their search and found the stamp with the cut string in a flower bed near the polling station.

The police are investigating various possibilities, including whether it was an impulsive act by a nearby resident or a prank by children.

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