South Korean election body searched in probe into alleged false turnout figures

South Korean investigators searched the National Election Commission on Thursday as part of a probe into alleged false voter turnout figures in the June 3 local elections.

A spokesman for a joint police and prosecution team said investigators had found indications that officials from the NEC and the Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission entered false voter turnout figures during the nationwide vote. The team is also carrying out searches and seizures involving people connected to the case, the spokesman said.

Investigators are examining whether some officials altered the election statistics system to correct earlier errors in turnout figures on election day. NEC rules require corrections to reported turnout figures to go through a formal approval process. Investigators suspect some officials instead adjusted figures across several polling stations to keep totals consistent while waiting for actual turnout numbers to catch up, bypassing the required process.

Seoul's Yonhap News Agency reported that, in one example under investigation, if 1,000 voters were mistakenly entered instead of 100 at one polling station, officials may have redistributed the excess 900 votes across other polling stations in the expectation that later voting would narrow the gap.

The June 3 local elections were the first nationwide vote since President Lee Jae Myung took office last year. Dozens of polling stations faced ballot paper shortages. According to NEC data provided to a lawmaker's office, at least 90 voters were unable to cast ballots because of the shortage.

The controversy led to the resignation of NEC chief Roh Tae-ak and demonstrations calling for a new election. Lee ordered a thorough investigation.

The special investigation team said two election officials have been formally placed under investigation on suspicion of offences including falsifying official electronic records. The spokesman said investigators would examine whether the alleged manipulation extended beyond frontline staff and whether senior election officials knew of or approved the actions. If confirmed, the allegations would be the first known manipulation of the NEC's election statistics system.

Analysts cited in the report said the NEC, a constitutional body with limited external oversight, has long had gaps in internal discipline and review mechanisms.

The controversy has also drawn in wider election conspiracy claims. Former president Yoon Suk Yeol, who is jailed and on trial for insurrection, claimed after declaring martial law in 2024 that the NEC had ignored warnings about North Korean threats to voter data and had not fully cooperated with intelligence agency inspections. After the June polls, far-right groups in South Korea, including some Yoon supporters, promoted claims of Chinese interference in the electoral system.

Last week, US President Donald Trump also raised similar claims, saying the US electoral system had been dangerously exposed and that he would declassify intelligence that he said showed China had illicitly acquired 220 million voter files. Young university students have also joined protests in South Korea calling for a full investigation into the NEC and stronger protection of voters' rights.