About 700 ballots flagged by People Power Party observers sent for examination
Forensic agencies to check for damage, tampering signs
![Lee Sang-jin, a professor at Korea University's Graduate School of Information Security and forensic advisory member of Special Prosecutor Lee Tae-han's team investigating the National Election Commission, arrives at the commission's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 13. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/11/09/news-p.v1.20261015.77f48ab425c0432d85007537cf9dbfef_P1.jpg)
The special prosecutor's team led by Lee Tae-han, which is investigating the National Election Commission over a ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections, has requested additional forensic analysis on a portion of ballots removed from the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium that raised suspicions.
According to Yonhap, the team said Monday it had completed a count and classification of ballots and storage boxes selected through random verification from among Songpa-gu ballots stored at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium.
The team requested detailed forensic analysis from two agencies — the prosecution service and the National Forensic Service — on the ballots and storage boxes in question.
"We have also asked both agencies to return results as quickly as possible, taking into account the special prosecutor's operating timeline," the team said.
Earlier, the team conducted a public verification at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium on Oct. 28 and 29. It has since been conducting its own analysis of about 700 ballots — out of 2.47 million removed — that People Power Party observers requested for additional scrutiny.
The ballots flagged for additional review included those found during the public verification to show signs of surface damage, post-election alteration or deterioration, as well as ballots that were stiff with no fold marks and those bearing faint ink impressions from official stamps.
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