Amid the growing controversy over the election management of the National Election Commission's poor pre-voting for confirmed and quarantined persons, critics are coming out today (6th) that the National Election Commission caused this situation with insufficient predictions and negligent handling of the situation in the first place.
In addition, it was found that the manual itself on voting for confirmed and quarantined people distributed to election clerks etc. did not provide sufficient explanation, so it is pointed out that it was in fact a 'predicted disaster'.
It was a total insolvency with holes in every corner, from failure to predict the scale of participation in voting by confirmed and quarantined people due to the explosion of confirmed cases, to insufficient measures, lack of management, and lack of publicity for voters.
According to the explanation of the National Election Commission, it is known that it was because of related laws that a separate ballot box was not prepared for those who were confirmed and quarantined with Corona 19.
Article 151, Paragraph 2 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that 'in voting for one election, two ballot boxes may not be used at the same time in each voting district for each constituency'.
As a result, the National Election Commission created a controversy by trying to move a confirmed person's ballot paper in a plastic bag, paper box, or plastic colander.
In the end, it is pointed out that additional measures such as separating the advance voting times for confirmed and quarantined people should be taken.
Previously, the National Election Commission (NEC) announced on the 25th of last month that the voting for confirmed cases was separated from the general voting from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM during the main voting through special measures for voting management for confirmed cases announced on the 25th. There is no clear separation between general voting and time.
If the National Election Commission recognized the provision of the law that prohibits the use of two ballot boxes at the same time, there are also criticisms that it should have taken measures such as preparing a separate polling place for confirmed and quarantined persons in the first place.
In this regard, an official from the National Election Commission explained, "The situation was caused by not correctly predicting the number of confirmed and quarantined people who will participate in the early voting."
It is pointed out that the 'manual' itself distributed by the National Election Commission for the management of confirmed and quarantined persons is inadequate.
According to the data obtained by the media, the pre-voting guidelines distributed by the National Election Commission to internal members, that is, a manual called 'voting management', consisted of only five pages.
Of these, the 7th line of the last chapter was the end of the ballot box in question.
According to the data, the description of 'putting in the ballot' states, "The envelope submitted by the quarantined person, etc. is placed in a basket or box that can be seen by the observer and moved to the advance polling place with the designated observer."
The National Election Commission then added, "Be careful not to reveal the ballots in the hall under the observation of observers, take them out of the temporary voting envelope and put them in the advance ballot box inside the hall. Put the return envelopes in the advance ballot box outside the hall."
Even in the last line, in small print, it is written, "According to the number of people in quarantine, such as voting or waiting, it is possible to collect a certain amount and put it in."
There were no instructions or instructions on how to collect a 'set quantity'.
This is the background of the spread of controversy by moving the ballot papers of confirmed persons in each voting district to a plastic bag, paper box, or plastic colander.
It is pointed out that at least the box for collecting ballot papers should be standardized and distributed, or a security plan for the box should be prepared and the method to be thoroughly managed should be specified in the manual to minimize controversy over bad elections.
If the '1 polling place, 1 ballot box' principle had to be followed, at least the Election Commission officials should have been on standby at all times, and when a confirmed person finished voting, they should have taken the ballot to the ballot box and put it in. ' This is a criticism that the problem is getting bigger.
In the end, due to the Election Commission's complacency awareness and response, on the 5th, at the polling center in Sinsa 1-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, the ballot papers marked by 'Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung' were distributed, but voting was temporarily suspended due to protests from voters It is pointed out that it caused the situation to occur.
To make matters worse, it was also confirmed that the National Election Commission did not sufficiently inform in advance that it did not prepare a separate ballot box for those who were confirmed or quarantined with Corona 19 during the advance voting.
According to the press release of 'Announcement of Special Measures for Voting Management such as Confirmed Persons in the 20th Presidential Election' released by the National Election Commission on February 25th, the National Election Commission (NEC) said, "When the confirmation of (confirmed and quarantined) is completed, All you have to do is take off your mask for a while, check your identity with your ID, fill out the 'Certification of your identity as an elector,' and vote at a separate temporary voting booth."
The National Election Commission only stated that "temporary voting booths will be installed separately for each confirmed person and quarantined person."
The fact that a confirmed person cannot directly put a ballot into the ballot box after voting at a temporary voting booth is not specified anywhere.
In the end, a large number of confirmed cases and quarantined people did not know that they could put their ballots directly into the ballot box until they arrived at the advance voting booth.
Although it is stated in the internal guideline manual, it is pointed out that the National Election Commission actually caused confusion among voters because there is no sufficient explanation and publicity such as 'you cannot put it directly into the ballot box' from the point of view of voters.
Regarding the root cause of the controversy over poor election management, an official from the National Election Commission explained, "The situation occurred because we could not properly predict that this number of confirmed and quarantined people to participate in the early voting would increase."
It is an explanation that many of the confirmed and quarantined people were expected to participate in the main voting with separate time zones, and did not think of the need to create a sufficient and detailed manual in the first place.
Another official also explained, "In preparation for this advance voting, we focused only on the separation of the circulation of confirmed and quarantined people and ordinary voters."
This is the reason why the possibility is raised that the National Election Commission did not properly simulate the number of confirmed and quarantined people to attend on the day of the early voting.
In addition, the National Election Commission informed that prior to the early voting, there was no discussion on whether to prepare a countermeasure against Article 151 (2) of the Public Official Election Act, which states that 'two ballot boxes per constituency cannot be used at the same time in each voting district in a single election vote' lost
It is judged that there are not many confirmed and quarantined people and that it is possible to deal with them on the spot.
Controversy over poor management of the National Election Commission and the theory of responsibility in the ultra-thin constituency are expected to continue even after the upcoming presidential election.