Voters who tried to vote again after finishing early voting during the last presidential election were also sentenced to fines on appeal.
According to legal sources on the 11th, the Criminal Division 3 of the Suwon High Court (High Court Judges Cho Hyo-jung, Ko Seok-beom, and Choi Ji-won) dismissed the appeals of a woman in her 60s, identified as A, and a man in his 20s, identified as B, who were indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act. The court also upheld fines of 1 million won each, the same as in the first trial.
A, during the 21st presidential election period, finished voting with a driver's license at an early voting site in Goyang on May 29 last year. However, the person is accused of going to another early voting site in Hwaseong the next day, presenting a resident registration card, and attempting to vote again.
When a poll worker pointed out the fact of the prior vote, A first excused it by saying "I lost my driver's license," then left the scene when the verification process began, according to reports.
During the trial, A claimed a health-related mistake, but the first trial court found intent, noting that A showed strong interest in election operations by filing nine information disclosure requests about how the election was managed.
B is accused of, after early voting in Siheung on May 30 last year during the presidential election period, going to a polling place in Hwaseong four days later on June 3, presenting an ID, and attempting to vote again.
At the polling place, B said, "I was trying to check whether voting would work," but later changed the account, saying, "I thought I had to vote twice," according to reports.
The appellate court said their crimes are not light because they undermine the one-person, one-vote principle, but it maintained the lower court's sentences, considering factors such as that they did not actually receive ballots and therefore did not affect the election outcome.