Miscalculated voter figures shared as South Korea grapples with ballot shortage scandal
- Published on June 16, 2026 at 08:55
- 3 min read
- By Grace MOON, AFP South Korea
As unprecedented ballot shortages disrupted local polls and opened South Korea's election commission up to suspicion, a map purportedly showing voter turnout was shared in posts falsely claiming some counties had an overabundance of votes. The circulating voter turnout map does not match up with official figures, which show voter turnout did not exceed 100 percent. The platform that generated the map told AFP that an error in their system caused some votes to be counted twice.
"They say there are plenty of places in Jeolla Province where voter turnout exceeded 100 percent. They must have an endless supply of ballot papers," says a Korean-language X post shared on June 5, 2026.
The post includes a screenshot of a map purportedly showing voter turnout figures for several counties in South Korea's historically progressive southwestern region during the June 3 local election.
The map shows 14 cities and counties in North Jeolla Province, nine of which have turnout rates exceeding 100 percent, with Sunchang County highlighted as having the highest turnout at 136.3 percent.
The purported voter turnout map appearing to show an overabundance of votes in some counties was shared on social media as unprecedented ballot shortages were reported across South Korea (archived link).
Thousands of South Koreans have demanded the June 3 nationwide vote for mayors, local government officials and assembly members be rerun. South Korea's ruling Democratic Party swept most seats in the election but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat (archived link).
According to the National Election Commission (NEC), at least 91 polling stations had run short of ballots -- nearly half of them in the capital Seoul -- forcing throngs of voters to wait in line for hours and ultimately prevented some from casting their votes (archived link).
President Lee Jae Myung has called for a thorough investigation into the matter saying it had "undermined the foundation of popular sovereignty" (archived link). The head of the NEC has also stepped down over the incident (archived link).
There have been no official reports, however, of polling stations recording voter turnout in excess of 100 percent, as posts claim.
Inflated figures
Official election data published by the NEC show that no county in North Jeolla Province recorded a voter turnout higher than 100 percent (archived link).
While turnout was relatively higher in the province compared with Seoul and other regions, the highest rates were recorded in Sunchang County at 79.9 percent and Jangsu County at 78.3 percent -- far below the 136.3 percent and 122 percent figures cited in false posts.
A reverse-image search on Google found the map used in the circulating posts resembles those used by PoliMap, a civic platform that provides election and political information (archived link).
PoliMap's terms of service say it sources information from "objectively verifiable sources", such as the NEC and local election commissions, official statements from political parties and candidates, and other material published by public institutions (archived link).
Responding to an AFP enquiry, a spokesperson for PoliMap said in an email on June 12 that the circulating figures do not "represent actual turnout rates or official election metrics".
The inflated figures were generated due to a "display logic error" that caused early-voting turnout rates in certain regions to be counted twice, they said.
Starting from 1 pm on election day, the NEC calculates voter turnout as a cumulative figure that includes early votes and other categories, such as absentee and overseas ballots.
According to PoliMap, the incorrect figures represent the sum of the total turnout rate reported after 1 pm and the early-voting rate, which was added a second time.
AFP replicated the erroneous calculation and found the results matched the figures shown in the circulating map (archived link):
- Sunchang County: Early-voting turnout (62.3 percent) + Total turnout after 1 pm (74 percent) = 136.3 percent
- Gochang County: Early-voting turnout (53.2 percent) + Total turnout after 1 pm (70.5 percent) = 123.6 percent
- Jinan County: Early-voting turnout (52.3 percent) + Total turnout after 1 pm (70 percent) = 122.3 percent
PoliMap has since modified its system to prevent duplicate tallies.
AFP has previously debunked other false claims related to South Korea's elections.
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