On the 15th, when the 21st National Assembly election was held, Seoul, which is called the 'Litmus Test Paper for Public Sentiment', began counting at 25 counting points at the conclusion of the poll.

As the risk of infection in Corona 19 remains, the counting clerks are immersed in the counting process with a `` barrier defense '' to prevent infection.

At the ticket office installed in the auditorium of Gyeongbokgung High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul, all counting clerks were wearing masks and sanitary gloves.

Many have even written a 'face shield' (face protection) that covers their faces with a transparent plastic film.

At the ticket office, the clerks gathered together with one table in between.
Due to the nature of having to work indoors, it seemed necessary to block the risk of each other's infection with masks or gloves to prevent infection.

In some cases, however, it seemed that breathing was frustrating, wearing face protection like a hat over the head, or putting the mask under the chin and continuing the work.

Officials from the Election Commission also warned that "there is a social distance" through the broadcast inside the polling station.

There were also many ticket offices to check the temperature of people entering.

At the ticketing counter set up at the SETEC exhibition hall in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, a line over 100m was created outside the entrance just after the voting was over, checking the temperature of all people entering at the same time.

One observer of the political party said, "The polling place does not seem to be able to observe the Corona 19 prevention rules rather than the polling place."

Around 7pm, cars with ballot boxes arrived in front of the box office.

On that day, the voter turnout reached a record high of 28 years, at 66.2% (provisional).

The ballot box arriving at the box office was filled with ballots of two votes by one voter.

The counting clerks unsealed the ballot box, spilled the ballots on the table, and classified the district ballots and proportional ballots.
Local ballots can be counted with an automatic counter, but the length of 48cm, the longest proportional ballot, could not be put into the machine, so the clerks had to count by hand.

Long proportional labels were usually folded more than once.

The clerks were sweating each and every one of the folded ballots.

In addition, the weight of the long ballot was heavy, and some female clerks wobbled when moving it.

At the ticket office, observers from each party watched the counting process with bitter eyes.

In many cases, the counting process was recorded as a video on a smartphone.
Some of the voters were protesting that the ballot box sticker was slightly torn or handprinted and said, 'Who's tearing it?'

One observer said, "I am worried that many invalid votes have been generated on the proportional ballot."

(Photo = Yonhap News)