The Election Crime Monitoring Group of the "Freedom and Innovation Election Reform Special Committee" (hereinafter referred to as the Monitoring Group, headed by Dr. Wi Geum-sook) announced on the 25th that it has proactively sent a "Letter of Request for Legal Compliance" to approximately 3,800 local government election officials and early voting officials across cities, counties, districts, towns, townships, and villages, strongly urging them to comply with the Public Official Election Act ahead of the 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections to be held on June 3rd. 

Through this letter, the Monitoring Group pointed out that some of the guidelines in the office manual and early voting management manual recently issued by the Election Commission to polling stations at the front lines directly violate the Public Official Election Act, which is superior legislation, and severely undermine the integrity of the elections.

Specifically, the Monitoring Group identified three representative illegalities in the Election Commission's guidelines: △Instructions to collectively create or collect and store the personal seals of election officials before the election date without legal basis △Practices that induce proxy stamping by poll workers by operating multiple queues within a single polling station △Instructions that have been changed to require "signing first, then affixing" by omitting the joint seal on the boundary between the ballot box body and the sealing tape, disregarding the basic principle of sealing.

The Monitoring Group clearly outlined in the letter the guidelines that front-line election officials must adhere to at the polling stations and the actions they absolutely must not take.

Urging Compliance with 'Personal Seal Imprint by Officials' and 'Joint Sealing on the Boundary Between Ballot Box Body and Sealing Tape'

Officials must not request the Election Commission to create their seals or submit their personal seals in advance. Instead, they must bring their "genuine personal seal" that they have continuously possessed and managed, enter it into the election record 15 minutes before the commencement of voting, and then imprint it directly on the ballot papers. 

Furthermore, when sealing the ballot box, officials must affix the sealing tape so that it completely covers the lock bar, then clearly affix a joint seal (imprint or signature) on the boundary between the ballot box body and the sealing tape, and they must not obstruct or interfere with the joint sealing actions of observers.

A representative from the Monitoring Group stated, "If illegal work is carried out without a review of legality solely based on instructions from a higher authority, the judicial penalties and personal disadvantages that follow will ultimately be borne by the individual official." He strongly warned, "Since the statute of limitations for election crimes by public officials is as long as 10 years, you must prioritize compliance with the Public Official Election Act, which is superior legislation to the Election Commission's guidelines."

Meanwhile, the Freedom and Innovation Election Crime Monitoring Group will thoroughly and constantly monitor the nationwide voting and vote counting process for the upcoming June 3rd local elections with the participation of an international monitoring group and a joint US-Korea investigation team for election irregularities. 

A representative from the Monitoring Group emphasized, "As international attention is focused on South Korea's election system, we earnestly request that (early) voting officials across the country strictly fulfill their duties granted by the Constitution and laws to safeguard fair and transparent elections." 

Hankook Ilbo Politics Department