The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) has received a leak report from the National Election Commission (NEC) and launched a fact-finding probe after voter roll verification slips bearing voters' names and genders were found at the No. 2 polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
According to the PIPC on Friday, the NEC filed a personal data breach report with the commission regarding the matter at around 8:30 p.m. the previous day. The No. 2 polling station in Jamsil 7-dong was the site of a ballot paper shortage on the main voting day of the 9th nationwide local elections. At this polling station, protesters alleging election fraud effectively blockaded the site for three days, delaying the removal of ballot boxes. The boxes were only transported to the counting station after police were deployed Thursday morning.
After the ballot boxes were removed, protesters who entered the polling station found voter roll verification slips that remained on site, filmed them and livestreamed the footage online, exposing personal information including voters' names and genders. The verification slips are reported to be a kind of waiting ticket distributed to voters who could not cast their ballots immediately due to the ballot paper shortage on election day.
The PIPC is currently verifying the facts, including how the verification slips were exposed externally and whether data that should have been kept by the NEC was leaked. Based on the results of its review, the PIPC plans to examine whether the Personal Information Protection Act was violated and whether follow-up measures are necessary.
