A special prosecutor investigating South Korea’s election administration has searched the National Election Commission and its Seoul office over allegations that records from dozens of polling stations were altered after the June 3 local elections. The inquiry concerns polling stations that received ballot papers without serial numbers after supplies ran short, and whether officials later changed the formal polling records to reduce responsibility for the shortage.

The team led by special prosecutor Lee Tae-han conducted searches on November 4 at ten departments of the national commission, including the offices of its chair and secretary-general, as well as the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission. About 40 investigators participated in a search that lasted roughly 12 hours, according to reports based on the investigation. More than ten commission employees, including senior officials at different levels, have reportedly been booked as suspects.

Investigators are examining records from at least 40 polling stations where suspected post-election changes were identified. The alleged additions included serial numbers entered for ballot papers that originally had none and statements asserting that officials had anticipated the shortage and requested countermeasures in advance. The inquiry is focused on whether these entries were made at the direction of the national commission and whether the resulting documents were presented as contemporaneous records.

The search warrant cited suspected official-document forgery, use of forged documents and dereliction of duty. Investigators are also examining whether the commission ordered the changes because it anticipated disciplinary action or litigation, collected the amended records and subsequently submitted them to the National Assembly without disclosing that they had been revised.

The records and the ballot shortage

The figures describe related but distinct groups. Ballot papers without serial numbers were reportedly delivered to more than 140 polling stations nationwide, while suspected record changes have been identified at a minimum of about 40 locations. The evidence does not establish that every station receiving unnumbered papers altered its records, nor does it provide a final count of all records that may have been changed.

Polling records provide the official account of events at each voting location, including unusual circumstances and measures taken by election personnel. If entries describing serial numbers or earlier requests for assistance were added only after the election, without a transparent amendment history, the records could obscure when officials became aware of the shortage and how they responded. The investigation has not established that the alleged changes affected vote totals or election results.

A separate procurement investigation

The special prosecutor is separately investigating a procurement process valued at 45.9 billion won for advance-voting ballot printers and related supplies. Investigators suspect that plans for the project may have been disclosed in advance to a particular company and that internal guidelines may have favored the company in the supply of dedicated consumables. Searches connected to that allegation have targeted relevant commission departments and a private company.

The two lines of inquiry place both election documentation and procurement controls under scrutiny, but they involve different alleged conduct and should not be treated as proof of a single coordinated scheme. One concerns whether official polling records were revised after ballot shortages; the other concerns possible preferential treatment in a major equipment and supplies contract.

The chain of authorization remains under investigation

Investigators now need to trace who ordered or approved each change, when the altered records were created and how they were reported through the commission’s hierarchy. The inquiry must also determine whether officials knowingly submitted revised documents without explaining their amendment history. Until those questions are resolved, the alleged direction from the national commission and the suspected offenses remain matters under investigation rather than established findings.