Civic group files complaint against NEC officials for dereliction of duty
Disturbances on the first day of two-day early voting period cause public concern; NEC apologizes
Amid public concern about abnormalities at polling stations -- partly due to leniency meant to facilitate early in-person voting -- ahead of the presidential election Tuesday, a local civic group has filed a complaint against high-ranking officials of the National Election Commission, the prosecution said Friday.
The civic group Public Welfare Committee reportedly filed the complaint with the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office against NEC chief Rho Tae-ak, NEC Secretary-General Kim Yong-bin and NEC Deputy Secretary-General Heo Cheol-hoon, accusing them of dereliction of duty and other charges.
The civic group claimed that the election watchdog officials neglected their duty and undermined public trust in the NEC.
The action was taken after an image spread online showing voters holding ballot papers outside a polling station near Sinchon-dong Community Center in Seodaemun-gu, western Seoul, on Thursday.
The election watchdog issued a formal apology following the controversy involving its lack of management and control.
'We acknowledge that our mistakes caused confusion for voters. We fully recognize that any errors made by on-site polling staff are ultimately the responsibility of the NEC. We vow to ensure thorough management for the remaining days of the election,' said the secretary-general in an official statement after explaining that the early voters in the photo, who had their identities verified and were given ballot papers, had to wait in line outside the polling station.
The election commission added that no ballots were taken off the premises. It also confirmed that all voters who waited outside the polling station cast their votes without exception.
It was one of several disturbances at polling stations across Seoul as South Korea recorded the highest first-day early voting turnout in any presidential election since 2014.
A temporary worker at the election commission has been put under investigation on suspicion of violating the Public Official Election Act. The police reportedly announced that the worker, who was tasked with verifying voters' identities, was caught attempting to vote with her own ID at around 5 p.m. Thursday, after making a proxy vote using her husband's ID earlier in the day.
According to the police, an election observer noticed the temporary worker's attempt to vote twice and reported her to both the NEC and the police on Thursday.
The election commission dismissed the worker from her duties and is set to file a complaint with the police against her.
Two men also reportedly appeared at a polling station in Daerim-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, western Seoul -- a major Chinese enclave -- and stirred up trouble by conducting what they called a 'Korean identity test' on voters who had just cast their ballots. The individuals, who claimed that they were monitoring for possible election fraud, asked questions like 'What do you think about our country?' in a supposed attempt to verify whether the voters were truly Korean.
Though these actions led to minor disputes, the situation was brought under control by the police.
An elderly voter also caused a disturbance at the same polling station in Daerim-dong, questioning why the NEC stamp was pre-printed on his ballot paper.
Meanwhile, a man in his 50s and a woman in her 60s were detained by police on charges of unauthorized trespassing into the NEC's building in Guro-gu, Seoul.
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