President Lee Jae-myung on the 29th sparked controversy by exposing his ballot outside the booth during early voting for the June 3 local elections and National Assembly by-elections. He stepped out to ask whether a vote is valid if the circle mark is only half filled, and his ballot was exposed to election workers and the media. While some claimed this violated the principle of the secret ballot, the National Election Commission said there is no legal problem.
An official at the National Election Commission said in a phone call with ChosunBiz that "it has been confirmed that the ballot management team did not see the president's marked ballot," adding, "Therefore it will not be invalidated." The official said, "Separate from this (presidential) case, generally, when determining whether a ballot becomes invalid due to disclosure of the ballot paper, we make a very cautious judgment after comprehensively considering intent, negligence, and other factors."
The view is that there is no legal issue because the president did not intentionally expose the ballot and it was finally confirmed that the on-site election worker did not see the marked choice. As for a general voter exposing a ballot in a similar way for "inquiries," the official said, "The principle is to make a comprehensive and cautious judgment on each individual similar case," adding, "We determine (invalidity) when the person who voted discloses it directly."
Earlier, the president cast an early vote at the Samcheong-dong community center with first lady Kim Hea-kyung. With renovations to the presidential residence not yet complete, the presidential couple took part in an out-of-constituency vote for their registered address, Incheon Gyeyang B. During voting, the president stepped out of the booth, showed his ballot to an election worker, and asked, "If the circle mark isn't complete and is only half stamped, is that okay?" and "Since it's stamped only like this (only halfway), won't it become an invalid ballot?" After receiving a reply from the worker to the effect that "it will not become an invalid ballot," he went back in and finished marking.