Personal stamps cannot be used on ballots: S.Korea poll body

Published on May 30, 2025 at 09:08
2 min read
By Hailey JO, AFP South Korea

Stamping ballots with personal name seals renders them invalid, South Korean election authorities warn, contrary to online posts that doing so protects against vote rigging. The country's upcoming presidential vote has been marred with baseless voter fraud claims amplified by ousted leader Yoon Suk Yeol during his failed martial law declaration.

"You must stamp your personal seal on the ballot to completely block election fraud! Don't forget to bring your seal!!!" reads a Korean-language X post shared on May 26, 2025.

The post features a poster for a recently released documentary titled "Election Fraud: A Work of God?" which drew media attention when former president Yoon showed up to a screening (archived link).

Yoon had claimed his failed martial law declaration, which saw troops sent to the National Election Commission (NEC) premises, was partly aimed at investigating voter fraud allegations popular with the country's far-right conspiracy theorists (archived link).

Yoon is on trial for insurrection charges over his failed attempt to scrap civilian rule and South Korea has been effectively leaderless since his suspension.

Screenshot of the X post taken May 29, 2025

South Korea will select a new president on June 3, with early voting kicking off five days prior (archived link).

All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party as the clear frontrunner in the presidential race. Trailing behind him is conservative ex-labour minister Kim Moon-soo of the ruling People Power Party -- Yoon's former party.

Similar claims about marking ballots spread elsewhere on X as well as on Facebook.

However, following the advice shared in these false posts invalidates votes.

Ballots must be marked with devices provided at polling stations and not with personal seals, the NEC said in an information sheet about voting on its website (archived link).

Screenshot of the NEC Q&A displaying the official ballot marking device, taken May 30

Writing in names or using fingerprints to mark a ballot would render it invalid, the NEC said.

An official from the commission told AFP on May 29 this is to ensure the secrecy of voting as required by the law, saying using a personal stamp "can expose the voter's identity" (archived link).

The Public Official Election Act states ballots marked with anything else shall be nullified (archived link).

AFP has debunked more misinformation around South Korea's presidential vote here, here and here.

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