The launch of a special investigation by the Election Commission to probe the ballot shortage during the local elections is imminent. Following over two months of preliminary investigations by the joint investigation team focusing on individual allegations, the special investigation is expected to concentrate on whether the leadership of the Central Election Commission issued, reported, or approved directives.
According to legal sources on the 17th, the National Recommendation Committee for the Election Commission's special investigation has recommended Lee Tae-han, former head of the Criminal Division 4 at the Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and Lee Hyuk, a former prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, as candidates for the special prosecutor to President Yoon Suk-yeol. The president must appoint one of the two by the end of the day. If he fails to do so, the senior candidate will be appointed as the special prosecutor.
Once appointed, the special prosecutor will take up to 20 days to form a team and set up an office before commencing the main investigation. If the full preparation period is utilized, the investigation is expected to begin in early next month. The investigation team may consist of up to 165 members, with a maximum duration of 150 days for the main investigation.
The investigation targets outlined in the special prosecutor law include the ballot shortage and allegations of manipulation of voting statistics during the local elections, as well as issues related to overseas trips by Election Commission officials, irregular hiring and promotion benefits, and preferential contracts with specific companies, totaling 12 items.
Among these, the special prosecutor is expected to prioritize the allegations of voting statistics manipulation. During the joint investigation, it was confirmed that directives from the Central Election Commission were involved, suggesting that the investigation may extend beyond individual actions of frontline staff to the involvement of the leadership.
The joint investigation team found evidence that Election Commission staff had incorrectly entered the number of voters and subsequently adjusted the figures without following normal correction procedures. It was also confirmed that the Central Election Commission had communicated a directive stating that, in principle, errors in voter numbers should not be corrected on election day, and if the errors were not significant, adjustments could be made in subsequent reports.
The joint investigation team has charged the Central Election Commission officials responsible for drafting and disseminating this directive with offenses related to public electronic record forgery and is currently tracing the process of its creation, reporting, and approval. It has also been reported that when inquiries about incorrect entries arose in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, the Central Election Commission provided materials detailing how to adjust the figures.
In the special investigation, determining who established this 'adjustment reporting' method and whether the Central Election Commission leadership was informed or approved it will be key issues. The investigation will also seek to clarify whether similar methods were used to handle voter number errors in past elections.
The ballot shortage incident, which directly triggered the launch of the special investigation, is also expected to shift focus from the staff to the leadership. The joint investigation team conducted searches of the Central Election Commission, the Seoul Election Commission, and the election commissions of Songpa, Seocho, Gangnam, Gwangjin, and Dongjak districts in June, continuing to investigate related officials.
The election officer and the first election manager of the Songpa District Election Commission have been charged for failing to take appropriate measures despite anticipating the possibility of a ballot shortage, while the election officer of the Gangnam District Election Commission is under investigation for neglect of duty.
The special prosecutor is expected to review the decision-making process that led to the printing of ballots for only 50% of the number of voters. Key areas of investigation will include how the decision to reduce the printing volume was made and whether concerns about potential shortages were communicated to the Central Election Commission leadership.
As a result, investigations into former Central Election Commission Secretary General Heo Cheol-hoon and other members of the leadership at that time are likely to intensify during the special investigation phase. Both Noh Tae-ak, the former chairman of the Central Election Commission, and Heo resigned in response to the ballot shortage incident.
Allegations regarding Noh's overseas trips with his spouse are also expected to be significant cases for the special prosecutor. The joint investigation team has been investigating the circumstances under which Noh took his spouse on overseas trips during his tenure and used Election Commission funds for related expenses.
The joint investigation team is examining the decision-making process for selecting travel destinations and the involvement of Election Commission staff in carrying out unofficial schedules for the spouse. The special prosecutor will seek to confirm whether Noh was directly involved in the selection of travel destinations, the accompanying of his spouse, and the execution of the budget.
Recent investigations into contract irregularities at the Election Commission are also likely to be transferred to the special prosecutor. The joint investigation team conducted searches on the 14th at the Central Election Commission, the Seoul and Gyeonggi Election Commissions, and bidding companies, investigating allegations of preferential treatment for companies linked to former Election Commission officials.
The special prosecutor law explicitly includes allegations of preferential contracts and collusion with companies as investigation targets, which may expand the investigation to include not only individual contract processes but also whether current and former officials were involved in providing preferential treatment to specific companies within the Election Commission.
After the special prosecutor is launched, securing investigative personnel and addressing legal controversies will be significant challenges. Following the establishment of large-scale special investigation teams last year and this year, it is anticipated that it will be difficult to secure additional personnel from the prosecution and police.
The issue of prosecutor investigation authority, arising from the implementation of the revised Criminal Procedure Act in October, is also a variable. The special prosecutor law stipulates that the previous version of the Criminal Procedure Act applies, allowing the special prosecutor's investigation to proceed. However, there are concerns that the defense may challenge the special prosecutor's authority based on the abolition of prosecutor investigation rights under general law.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.