On the day of the April 10 general elections, various unusual voting incidents occurred across the nation, including in Tongyeong where a ship carrying voters from a remote island area experienced a mishap and had to be rescued by the marine police.
At 9:55 a.m. on Wednesday, a cruise ship weighing approximately 29 tons had its engine propulsion system entangled with floating debris, causing the ship to halt. Six out of eight passengers on board were voters traveling from Ogok Island to Hakrim Island, the designated polling station. Upon receiving the captain's report, the marine police responded to the scene. They towed the cruise ship to a safe area and transported the voters to the polling station on a safety vessel. Thankfully, there were no casualties due to the accident.
Incidents also unfolded at polling stations involving candidates. At 6 a.m. in a Daejeon polling station, a candidate named Lee demanded a change to his ballot. When staff members intervened, Lee obstructed the voting process by blocking access to a voting booth for 20 minutes. Reports indicated that Lee placed his own ballot into the box. The Daejeon Seogu Election Commission accused Lee of violating the Public Official Election Act, prompting action by the Dunsan Police Station in Daejeon.
At 11 a.m., police responded to a report that a village leader had transported voters to the polling station in Ganghwa, Incheon. Providing transportation to voters with the intent to encourage voting may constitute corrupt practices or inducement under the Public Official Election Act.
Police investigated the matter by accompanying the village leader with his consent. The village leader claimed to have assisted elderly villagers who could not reach the polling station on their own. The Ganghwa Police Station is examining the number of individuals transported and the frequency of trips to determine whether the village leader violated election laws.
At various polling stations, disruptive incidents involving voters were also reported. In Ulsan at 9:21 a.m., an intoxicated man shouted about difficulty finding the polling place and fled when approached by election committee officials calling the police. Similarly, in Bupyeong, Incheon, a man in his 70s caused a disturbance by arguing that a ballot box might have been tampered with and was apprehended by police at 10:13 a.m.
Additionally, individuals who tampered with ballots during early voting faced legal repercussions. The Daegu Election Committee accused a woman in her 40s of entering her mother's polling booth under the guise of assistance, urging her mother to vote for specific political parties and candidates.
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