46 'ghost polling stations' found nationwide where vote tallies exceeded ballots cast

A total of 46 so-called "ghost polling stations" — where the number of votes tallied exceeded the number of ballots cast — have been identified across the country in the June 3 local elections.

People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo disclosed the findings Wednesday at a press conference at the National Assembly's media center. Analyzing the National Election Commission's records comparing ballots issued against votes counted, Joo found that the Incheon Gyeyang-eul by-election recorded 73,372 votes tallied against only 73,271 ballots cast — a discrepancy of 101.

"The same phenomenon appeared at 46 polling stations nationwide, including an excess of 57 ballots in the Seoul Songpa-gu proportional representation race for local council members and 16 in the Chuncheon City Council 'Chuncheon-na' constituency," Joo said.

He said evidence of deliberate data manipulation by election commission staff had been found in the Gyeyang-eul case. According to Joo, the commission's comparison records listed the vote total as 73,261 — including 102 ballots classified as incorrectly inserted or sorted — but the actual vote-count tally sheet showed the number of such ballots was not 102 but 213.

Regarding the discrepancy, Joo said the commission had moved some ballots that should have been separately classified under its own rules into the basket of normally sorted ballots and counted them there. "As a result, the total vote count rose to 73,372, creating a 'ghost polling station' where the tally exceeded the number of ballots by 101," he said. He added that hidden ghost polling stations of the kind seen in the Gyeyang-eul case were likely far more numerous.

"The commission conducted no post-election review whatsoever until I began analyzing the data, and it cannot even explain why the numbers differ," Joo said. "That means the commission's system has completely broken down."

On the prospect of a special prosecutor investigation into the commission, Joo urged authorities to quickly assemble an investigative team and launch a full, no-exceptions probe into alleged manipulation of voter turnout and vote-count figures. "Without search and seizure operations and arrests, uncovering the truth is impossible," he said.

He added that he would hand over all the data and findings he had compiled to the special prosecutor's team, and again called for an unrestricted investigation including a search and seizure of the commission's servers.