The Board of Audit and Inspection has launched a probe into the budget planning and execution surrounding the ballot shortage that occurred during the June 3 local elections.
The agency said Sunday it would begin auditing the National Election Commission and its regional offices in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Busan, examining how election-related budgets were drawn up and spent.
To carry out the audit, the agency assembled a 42-member team led by the director of the administrative and safety audit bureau. The first phase runs through July 24, with a second 14-day phase planned for August. Based on the first phase's findings, the agency said it would decide whether to expand the audit's scope, focus areas and number of personnel deployed.
The agency cited as the trigger for the audit the fact that ballot papers ran short at 141 polling stations nationwide during the June 3 local elections, with voting temporarily suspended at 26 of those stations — a situation it said infringed on citizens' right to vote.
It also cited shortcomings in the initial response and command structure that came to light during subsequent investigations, saying public trust in the election commission had been damaged as a result.
In addition, the agency said the audit was prompted by calls for NEC reform and external oversight, citing former NEC chairman Noh Tae-ak's practice of bringing his spouse on overseas business trips while in office and his decision to lower the minimum ballot printing standard, which affected how the budget was spent.
Through the audit — the first financial review of the NEC since a regular audit in 2022 — the agency plans to examine three areas: budget planning and execution for election-related expenses including ballot printing and procurement contracts; matters that have drawn significant public suspicion; and the NEC's compliance with previous audit directives as part of verifying its self-reform efforts.
Specifically, the audit will cover the planning and execution of the ballot printing budget, the printing procurement process, payments of election worker allowances and standard operating expenses, the management and payroll of fair-election support staff, election supply procurement contracts, and the payment of expenses and allowances related to overseas absentee voting.
Also included in the audit's scope are the appropriateness of sole-source contracting, the use of public funds for overseas official travel, the use of discretionary operating budgets, follow-up on past audit findings, and the management of election expense repayment bonds owed by candidates whose election victories were subsequently voided.
"By reviewing compliance with audit directives, we plan to develop measures to address public suspicions surrounding the election commission," an agency official said.
BAI chief Kim Ho-cheol held a press conference on June 24 and announced that the agency had begun a financial audit of the NEC over the ballot shortage.
sang@heraldcorp.com
