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The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) is launching a large-scale audit into the National Election Commission (NEC) over mismanagement exposed during the June 3 local elections. The board plans to examine everything from election budget execution to private contracts and business expense spending, aiming to address public suspicions.
The BAI said on the 6th that it is beginning an audit of budget planning and execution targeting the NEC and the election commissions in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Busan. The first-stage audit runs from that day until the 24th, and based on the results, a 14-day second-stage audit is planned.
A total of 42 auditors, led by the director of the Administrative and Safety Audit Bureau, are being deployed for the audit. The scope covers 12 items across two areas: the planning and execution of election-related budgets since 2022, matters that have raised public suspicion, and the implementation of BAI corrective demands.
In the election budget area, the audit will review the planning and execution of ballot printing budgets and printing contracts, election-related allowances, the operation of the Fair Election Support Group and daily wages for fixed-term workers, the purchase and management of election supplies and building rentals, expenses and allowance payments for managing overseas voter elections, and the estimation of election cost requirements including labor costs and budget adjustment processes.
However, regarding matters related to ballot printing, the board plans to carefully decide whether to launch an audit and its scope and timing, given that a joint police-prosecution investigation and a parliamentary inquiry are currently underway.
In the area of public suspicions, the audit will examine unit price calculations in the private contracting process; allegations of work favoritism, contract splitting, and special favors; overseas business trips and travel expense execution; the use of business expenses and overtime meal allowances; position performance expenses based on past audit results and reserve funds for by-elections; the execution and settlement of local election expenses; and the management of election cost recovery claims against those whose elections were invalidated.
Based on the first-stage audit results, the BAI plans to decide whether to expand the audit scope and personnel in the second stage. The board had previously deployed about 30 people to collect data for the audit of the NEC's accounting sector, and it aims to release the audit results before October if possible.
The BAI said, "As media reports and other developments have raised the need for NEC reform and external audits, we will address public suspicions by examining the accounting sector, which has not been reviewed since the 2022 regular audit of the NEC."
