Exclusive: Special prosecutor books former NEC official over alleged W45.9b favoritism in early-voting machine contracts

The special prosecutor's office investigating alleged favoritism in contracts for roughly 17,000 early-voting ballot printers has booked a former head of the National Election Commission's election infrastructure division on breach-of-trust charges and launched a compulsory investigation. Prosecutors plan to examine seized materials to determine whether the NEC steered a total of 45.9 billion won ($34.2 million) in contracts to an election equipment company based in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province.

The special prosecutor's team executed a search and seizure warrant Wednesday at the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated metropolitan NEC office. The warrant targets a suspect identified only as A, who served as head of the central NEC's election infrastructure division in late 2023 and is currently posted at the South Jeolla-Gwangju NEC office, on breach-of-trust charges.

Investigators are examining whether A, while serving as division head, granted the Pangyo company preferential treatment in contractor selection and consumables supply for the production of 2024-model early-voting ballot printers and the purchase of related supplies. Prosecutors suspect irregularities in contracts totaling 45.9 billion won — approximately 32.1 billion won for the printer production project and about 13.8 billion won for consumables such as ink from December 2023 through July this year.

The team is investigating whether favoritism occurred on three fronts: leaking the business plan to the company before the tender was announced; turning a blind eye after the machines were secretly modified following a performance evaluation so they would recognize only the company's proprietary ink; and changing internal guidelines to require all NEC offices nationwide to sign sole-source contracts exclusively with that company for consumables such as ink, thereby creating a monopoly supply structure that allowed the firm to sell consumables throughout the entire service life of the ballot printers.

The special prosecutor's office has also booked B, the head of an election equipment company in Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The company, founded in 1999, has a track record of exporting electronic voting and counting systems to countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Investigators executed search and seizure warrants at the company's offices and factory on Wednesday. On the same day, they also executed a warrant at the central NEC's election infrastructure division in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.

The investigation into alleged NEC procurement irregularities, which began during the earlier joint prosecution-police task force phase, has broadened under the special prosecutor. The task force originally launched its probe into whether a company run by C — a former head of the central NEC's political parties division — had arranged for sham bidders to participate in competitive tenders so that C's firm would be selected as the final contractor.

The special prosecutor's team, which inherited the case, is now examining whether the NEC colluded with C and a North Gyeongsang Province-based company where C served as an executive, and whether preferential treatment was extended in those contracts. Investigators are also looking into whether the companies issued false tax invoices in connection with their NEC contracts. In relation to C, the current head of the central NEC's election infrastructure division has also been placed under investigation on bid-rigging charges.

Separately, five companies — including firms based in Gimpo and Daegu — are under investigation on breach-of-trust and bid-rigging charges over alleged favoritism in contracts worth a combined 5 billion won for the production of supply sets for early-voting stations used in the 21st presidential election and this year's local elections. The special prosecutor's office said it intends to use analysis of seized materials to establish the full extent of alleged collusion between the NEC and the companies involved.

The special prosecutor's team, which launched in September, is investigating a range of alleged NEC irregularities: a shortage of ballots at polling stations, manipulation of voting statistics, procurement bid-rigging for election supplies, allegations that former NEC Chairman Noh Tae-ak took junkets disguised as official overseas trips, and suspected improper payments from a fund designated for promoting fair elections.

On Wednesday, the team launched a compulsory investigation after concluding that voting records — official documents logging voting conditions at polling stations on election day — at a minimum of about 40 of the roughly 140 polling stations that experienced ballot shortages were forged or altered on instructions from the central NEC. More than 10 NEC employees have been booked on charges including forgery of official documents, uttering of forged official documents, and dereliction of duty in connection with the alleged post-election tampering with those records.