Ruling Party Fair Election Special Committee "Strengthen Visual Inspection of Ballots... Expand CCTV for Early Voting Boxes"

The National Election Commission Reports to the People Power Party's Election System Improvement Special Committee
The NEC to Conduct Additional Review Before the Second Meeting Next Week

The National Election Commission has decided to strengthen the visual inspection procedure for ballots during the vote counting in next year's general election. They are also considering a plan to install monitors at the central, provincial, and district election commissions so that the public can view the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of early voting ballot storage locations 24 hours a day.

On the 14th, the Election Commission reported these election preparation issues at a meeting held by the People Power Party's Special Committee on Fair Election System Improvement at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, according to a briefing by committee member Yoo Sang-beom.

After the meeting, Rep. Yoo told reporters, "There was a strong demand from lawmakers to strengthen the visual inspection procedure for ballots."

Currently, ballots sorted through the ballot sorter go directly into the counting machine, but there have been suspicions that observers may not be able to properly verify whether the ballots are stamped during this process. In response, the Election Commission reported that they are considering adding a procedure where election staff manually check all sorted ballots before counting.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Additionally, the special committee conveyed to the Election Commission the opinion that election managers must directly stamp early voting ballots. Rep. Yoo said, "The law stipulates that election managers must directly stamp the ballots. However, when the Election Commission introduced the early voting system, they allowed the use of pre-printed stamps by regulation." He added, "Our committee emphasized that during the early voting process, once the ballot is issued, the election manager must directly stamp it."

The Election Commission expressed concerns about increased waiting times for voters and the possibility of missing stamps. Rep. Yoo elaborated, "However, given the current public suspicions about the early voting system, there was a strong demand for a clear stamping procedure involving direct intervention to enhance credibility."

The Election Commission also reported to the special committee about plans to expand CCTV coverage at locations where early voting boxes are stored. The plan includes installing large monitors at provincial election commission offices to allow 24-hour continuous viewing. Currently, CCTV footage of early voting box storage locations can only be viewed during business hours through monitors installed at the central, provincial, and district election commissions upon prior application.

They are also considering a plan to represent the QR codes printed on early voting ballots as barcodes in a linear format. Rep. Yoo said, "Although the current law stipulates that early voting ballots should be marked with barcodes in a linear format, QR codes have been used instead. This has led to ongoing legal disputes." He added, "Committee members insisted on adhering to the law, and the Election Commission is actively reviewing this."

Since the 21st general election, there have been continuous allegations of election fraud related to QR codes, such as concerns that QR codes could reveal voters' personal information.

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