Did the South Korean government rig the 2024 parliamentary election because ballots with half-cut control numbers were found? No, that's not true: A half-cut control number on the ballot does not signify an irregular vote. The Constitutional Court already refuted a similar claim in 2023.
The claim originated from a video (archived here) published on TikTok on April 22, 2024, under the title "쏟아지는 4.10 부정선거 물증" or "Bunch of evidence confirming 4.10 election was rigged are coming out," translated from Korean to English by Lead Stories staff. It opened, as translated:
If election workers are busy, or unskilled, or not careful, they can issue the ballot with an uncut control number. However, they cannot issue a ballot with a half-cut control number.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Sun Apr 28 10:35:33 2024 UTC)
The video claims that a ballot with a half-cut control code was used, and this is allegedly evidence of the legislative elections (archived here) that took place in South Korea on April 10, 2024, being rigged. However, this is false, as both the National Election Commission (NEC) and the Constitutional Court have stated that cutting out the control number on the ballot is not essential for the election's integrity.
The claim in the TikTok video suggests that cutting out the control number of the ballot is fundamental to guarantee the vote's validity. However, the NEC has accepted ballots with the control number as valid votes (archived here) for more than 10 years, even though the control number is supposed to be cut out when the ballot is issued to the voter.
Moreover, in 2023, there was an appeal to the Constitutional Court for regulations related to control numbers on electoral ballots. In the court ruling (archived here), the Constitutional Court said the control number is not essential for the election's integrity. There are several other measures to ensure the election's integrity.
