Election Commission special counsel begins verification after two-hour delay over observers’ objections; two broadcaster cameras allowed to film

[Financial News] The Lee Tae-han special counsel team investigating the ballot shortage that occurred during the June 3 local elections began a public verification at around 11:49 a.m. on the 28th at the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
The process was delayed by about two hours amid objections from opposition lawmakers and some observers over filming restrictions, and an agreement was reached to allow two broadcaster cameras to record the proceedings.
At around 11:49 a.m. that day, the special counsel declared, “If any concerns arise during the verification process, please inform the Control Support Division,” and “We will begin the verification process as of this moment.”
The special counsel team had initially planned to explain the verification process at around 9:37 a.m. and then begin the full verification. However, the process was delayed after opposition lawmakers and some observers objected to the policy banning individual observers from taking photos or videos.
After consulting with the observers, the special counsel team agreed to allow two broadcaster cameras to record from the second floor of the gymnasium. Live broadcasts are not allowed.
The ban on individual observers filming remains in place, but the special counsel will provide filming equipment to one person each designated by the ruling and opposition parties. If a ballot suspected of being irregular is found, they will go to the relevant counting station to photograph it. The equipment will be collected after the verification ends.
However, even if a regular observer finds a potentially irregular ballot, they may not photograph it using their own equipment. Observers may raise objections at their assigned counting station, but they must not handle ballots themselves or use separate analysis equipment.
The day’s verification will begin with a check of the storage conditions for items related to the ballots. In the presence of observers, the special counsel team plans to inspect the items stored in Rooms 148 and 150 inside the Handball Gymnasium and then move them to the verification site.
Under the observers’ watch, the storage boxes will be taken to the operations area at the back of the gymnasium and sorted by election type, including the Seoul mayoral and district chief elections. The seals will then be checked, and boxes found to be in order will be delivered in sequence to 40 counting stations.
At each counting station, prosecutors and investigators from the special counsel team and observers will watch as the ballots are visually inspected one by one for quantity and the condition of the markings and printing, among other things.
If a ballot suspected of being irregular is found, it will undergo separate documentation and photography before being sent to the forensic examination records section for further review by the special counsel’s examination team. Ballots requiring detailed examination will be sealed separately, while those with no unusual features will be sent to the tallying section.
After verification, the ballots will be reloaded by election type, following separate documentation of the number requiring detailed examination.
Meanwhile, footage from closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the ballot storage locations is being analyzed at the special counsel’s office, separately from the public verification. In addition to footage obtained during the search and seizure the previous day, the team plans to obtain footage covering the period from the end of the search and seizure until the start of verification that day, to check for possible outside intrusions, among other things.
 
[email protected] Reporter Choi Eun-sol of Financial News Reporter