Circumstances have been identified suggesting that the National Election Commission (NEC) directed statistical manipulation on the day of the June 3rd rigged election by distributing Excel files intended for falsification to cover up input errors. [Photo = Yonhap News]

Circumstances have been identified suggesting that the National Election Commission (NEC) directed statistical manipulation on the day of the June 3rd rigged election by distributing Excel files intended for falsification to cover up input errors.

Furthermore, it has been revealed that as the NEC systematically induced data manipulation, some polling stations experienced a so-called "shutdown," where the number of voters was recorded as "zero" for several hours.

According to the joint investigation headquarters of the prosecution and police, they have secured evidence that an official from the National Election Commission directed staff to use a "distributed entry" method—arbitrarily splitting and entering figures—instead of correcting input errors regarding the number of voters at polling stations in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, and Gimpo and Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province.

The investigation team believes that once an error occurred at the Jincheon polling station in North Chungcheong Province, the National Election Commission created a "manipulated Excel file" with altered voter counts and sent it to the scene.

Subsequently, when a similar input error occurred at a polling station in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, the National Election Commission reportedly forwarded the manipulated Excel file used in Jincheon as a reference. There are also indications that when local staff struggled with the process, the NEC even went so far as to manually calculate and send specific manipulation figures for each time slot.

In fact, an examination of the voting data from the Gyeonggi region clearly reveals traces of this "number-matching statistical manipulation."

In the case of the No. 3 polling station in Bugok-dong, Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, the number of voters remained at "zero" for four hours—from 2:00 PM, immediately after the excessive input, until the close of voting—effectively resulting in a data shutdown.

At all nine polling stations in Gurae-dong, Gimpo, the records showed exactly one person voting between 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM. In the following time slots, eight of the polling stations recorded exactly one person voting, as if by prearrangement.

The investigation team believes that when the voter count was entered incorrectly in Jincheon, the National Election Commission official ordered the "distributed entry" method. Evidence has also been captured indicating that when a similar input error occurred in Gimpo, the NEC provided the "manipulated Excel file" from Jincheon as a reference. This constitutes clear evidence that the National Election Commission directed the "manipulation" at an institutional level.

The joint investigation headquarters has shifted the status of certain Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission officials to that of suspects, as they are accused of conspiring and executing statistical manipulation with the National Election Commission, and is expanding the investigation accordingly.

Political circles have also pointed out that such actions by the NEC go beyond simple administrative errors, constituting a serious crime of intentionally forging official electronic records and obstructing the execution of public duties.

Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party stated, "Because it was intentionally manipulated, charges of forging official electronic records can be established, along with charges of obstruction of justice or dereliction of duty."

Meanwhile, the National Election Commission explained, "We merely corrected some excessively entered figures by distributing them across time slots, and the final voter turnout was processed correctly as a result."

Following media reports on these facts, netizens left comments such as: "Are you still going to say there was no rigged election?", "Yoon Suk-yeol was right," "Why on earth was Yoon Suk-yeol sent to prison?", "If the election was this messy, is the martial law declared to investigate the NEC really an insurrection?", "First, digital manipulation; then, physical manipulation," "Investigate all the judges of the NEC as well," "Must cross-check the integrated voter registry and perform a server forensic," and "Abolish early voting, which provides the time for manipulation."

Reporter Lim Yo-hee