Early voting marred by assaults, ballot damage

A string of incidents disrupted South Korea's two-day early voting period for the June 3 local elections, with police making arrests in cases involving a torn ballot, assaults on campaign staff and a vote cast using a cousin's identification card.

According to police on Sunday, a man in his 60s was booked Saturday on suspicion of violating the Public Official Election Act after tearing a ballot at an early voting station inside Bucheon's Ojeong District Office.

The incident occurred around 4:13 p.m. after the man realized he had failed to vote in the superintendent of education race while feeding his ballots into the ballot box. After submitting his other ballots, he tried to return to the voting booth with the remaining ballot. Election officials stopped him, and during a dispute that followed, the ballot was torn.

Under election law, voting is considered complete once a ballot is placed in the ballot box, meaning voters cannot return to make additional selections. Anyone found guilty of damaging a ballot faces a prison term of one to 10 years or a fine ranging from 5 million won ($3,600) to 30 million won.

In a separate case later that day, a woman in her 20s was arrested in Incheon's Seo District on suspicion of obstructing an election after allegedly hurling insults at campaign staff and kicking a campaign sign. In Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, a man in his 70s was also detained for allegedly assaulting a campaign worker.

On the first day of early voting, May 29, election officials in Daegu uncovered a case involving the misuse of a relative's identification card. Investigators said a woman voted at an early voting station inside a community service center in the city's Seo District after presenting her cousin's ID instead of her own.


인천=공승배 기자 ksb@donga.com