Ballot taken outside poll site

[Anchor]

However, today (May 29), there was an incident where ballots were taken out of the polling station during the early voting process.

The National Election Commission had set up various measures to eliminate suspicions of election fraud, but it has once again become embroiled in controversy over poor management.

Reporter Kim Min-hyuk has the story.

[Report]

At an early voting station in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, citizens lined up outside the building holding ballots in their hands.

Voters from outside the district, who had gone through identity verification at the polling station, were unable to enter the voting booth immediately and had to wait outside after receiving their ballots and return envelopes.

This situation arose as many participants flocked to vote in the external election, and some reports indicated that some voters received their ballots and went outside to have a meal.

The National Election Commission explained that the issuance of ballots was too quick in a situation where there were not enough voting booths, leading to long wait times.

[Citizen/Voice Altered: "It's too poor. Such things should never happen. This is nonsense."]

The National Election Commission expressed its regret through a public apology from Secretary-General Kim Yong-bin, acknowledging responsibility for the poor management of polling stations and the confusion caused to voters.

It stated that failing to control the number of people entering and exiting the voting booths and identity verification was a mistake and that there was a lack of management.

It confirmed that there was no early voters took their ballots outside the polling station.

Previously, the National Election Commission announced measures to ensure fairness in early voting, including the disclosure of the number of voters at each polling station, 24-hour CCTV monitoring of ballot boxes, and the introduction of fair election observation groups.

[Kim Il-hwan/Administrative Officer, National Election Commission: "(The observation groups) will observe the entire process from candidate registration to the closing of voting, to see if there are any election frauds during the vote counting process..."]

However, due to the controversy over the removal of ballots, the National Election Commission has once again faced criticism for poor election management.

This is KBS News, Kim Min-hyuk.