SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- Patterns suggesting manipulation of voter turnout rates during the June 3 local elections appeared across polling stations in Gyeonggi Province, potentially widening the scope of an investigation into ballot shortages reported that day, Yonhap News Agency learned Thursday.

Yonhap analyzed June 3 voter numbers and turnout at polling stations across the province surrounding Seoul, which were provided by Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the main opposition People Power Party.

The data showed that in addition to the cities of Gimpo and Uiwang, where the National Election Commission (NEC) has identified errors in turnout rates, multiple polling stations appeared to have manipulated the numbers.

In Pyeongtaek, for example, a polling station in Shinpyeong-dong reported 772 ballots cast by 9 a.m. The number jumped significantly to 1,320 at 10 a.m. but remained unchanged for five hours until 3 p.m.

A similar case was seen in Dongducheon, where a polling station in Sangpae-dong reported 525 ballots cast by noon and 784 by 1 p.m., but no change after that until 4 p.m.

The same pattern was detected at several polling stations in Guri, Yeoju, Seongnam, Ansan and Goyang.

A prosecution-police task force investigating the ballot shortages raided the NEC headquarters in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, last week after finding chat messages between an NEC official and a Gimpo-based election worker that suggested they colluded to fix the voter numbers.

The NEC has since explained that there were errors in inputting hourly voter numbers in certain districts and adjustments were made to correct them without changing the total numbers.

On Election Day, the NEC discloses voter turnout to the public every hour based on numbers reported by election management workers at each polling station.

The ballot shortage issue has been highly controversial as it forced some voters to turn back without casting their ballots.

The task force was formed on June 9 at the order of President Lee Jae Myung.

hague@yna.co.kr

(END)

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