Polling stations in northern Gyeonggi Province remained calm on the morning of the 9th nationwide local elections held Tuesday, with some reports filed but none leading to election law violations.
According to the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency, a total of 16 election-related 112 emergency calls were received between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. that day. The breakdown included eight false alarms, four consultation inquiries, and four others.
At around 8:59 a.m., a report came in from Polling Station No. 7 in Hoecheon 2-dong, Yangju, claiming that "a voter photographed the interior." Police confirmed that the voter in question had taken a photo of the interior from outside the polling station as a memento after casting a ballot.
Since neither the act of marking the ballot nor the ballot paper itself was photographed, the case did not constitute a violation of election law. To eliminate any room for misunderstanding, police advised the voter to voluntarily delete the photo before sending them home.
Earlier, at around 6:59 a.m., a report was filed near a polling station in Jeongok-eup, Yeoncheon County, stating that "people wearing Democratic Party jackets are encouraging people to vote." After the Yeoncheon County Election Commission inspected the site, it was found that the individuals were active at a location more than 100 meters away from the polling station.
The activity was deemed not unlawful, as it took place outside the restricted zone defined under the Public Official Election Act.
The Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency deployed approximately 1,800 officers across 193 polling stations within its jurisdiction to provide election security.
"No serious election law violations have been confirmed so far," a police official said.
