Lee faces criticism over exposed ballot

President Lee Jae-myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung cast their ballots Friday during early voting for the June 3 local elections, the first nationwide vote since the Lee administration took office.

The couple voted at an early voting station set up at the Samcheong-dong Community Service Center in Seoul’s Jongno District, near the presidential office, according to deputy presidential spokesperson Ahn Gwi-ryeong. Because their registered residence is in Incheon’s Gyeyang District, they participated as out-of-district voters.

Lee arrived at the polling station wearing a gray tie, reportedly chosen to avoid colors associated with any political party and prevent unnecessary political interpretation. Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik accompanied the couple.

After entering the voting booth, Lee stepped out holding his marked ballot and asked, “Where is the election official? Is it okay if the stamp only shows up halfway inside the circle?” He added, “It stamped only like this. Is that still valid? Won’t it be invalid since only half appears?” After an election official explained that the ballot would remain valid, Lee returned to the booth and finished voting.

The People Power Party later denounced what it described as Lee’s “ballot exposure incident,” arguing that the president had shaken the foundations of democracy and calling for a full investigation into whether the act violated election law. Park Sung-hoon, spokesperson for the party’s central campaign committee, said in a statement that publicly displaying a ballot marked for the Democratic Party of Korea at a polling station amounted to a “calculated and disgraceful illegal campaign act aimed at openly influencing voters.”

An official from the National Election Commission said there was no issue with Lee briefly stepping out of the booth because he had not left the polling station itself. The official added, however, that a ballot could be invalidated if a marked vote was exposed to others and said authorities would need to examine the exact circumstances.


Hoon-Sang Park tigermask@donga.com