In a statement regarding the identical vote counts for Democratic Party candidate Min Hyeong-bae and People Power Party candidate Lee Jung-hyun at some early voting stations in Gwangju and Jeonnam, the Jeonnam Election Commission emphasized on June 9 that while some of the vote counts for specific candidates were the same, the overall vote data from each polling station was different.
The commission addressed suspicions raised over the identical vote counts by explaining that upon analyzing detailed counting details from ten specific early voting boxes, the number of voters, the votes for each candidate, invalid votes, and abstentions were all different across the polling stations.
Moreover, the commission highlighted that the voting boxes were sealed and transported under strict supervision and stored securely until the election day. The entire vote counting process involved multiple verification steps. Voting slips were initially sorted by a sorting machine, and any slips needing re-examination were manually checked and tallied.
The Jeonnam Election Commission concluded that the coincidence in vote counts was a result of manual tally processes and independent procedures at different locations, urging restraint from spreading baseless suspicions merely due to the improbability of identical counts.