Police Detain and Refer Election Official to Prosecution for 'Presidential Election Proxy Voting' Charge

An election official who cast a proxy vote in the 21st presidential election early voting using her husband's ID has been handed over to the prosecution while under detention.

Yonhap News

On the morning of June 5, the Suseo Police Station in Seoul announced that a woman in her 60s, identified as Park, had been transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office under detention on charges of proxy voting in violation of the Public Official Election Act.

Park, a former contract worker at the Gangnam District Public Health Center, is accused of issuing a ballot to herself using her husband's ID and casting a proxy vote at the Daechi 2-dong early voting station in Gangnam District on May 29, and then voting again with her own ID. During the police investigation, Park reportedly stated that she voted on behalf of her husband because he was ill.

Article 248 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that a person who votes by impersonating another person's name or by similar means shall be subject to imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 10 million won.

The National Election Commission requested an investigation into whether there was collusion in the crime and asked the police to investigate her husband as well. However, the police concluded that the husband was not involved and did not book him as a suspect.

Earlier, after receiving a report from an election observer, the police immediately arrested Park at the scene and applied for a detention warrant. The court conducted a pretrial detention review for Park and issued the warrant, stating that there were concerns about destruction of evidence and flight risk.

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