NEC files complaint against YouTuber over controversial footage

SEOUL, The National Election Commission (NEC) said Tuesday it has asked police to investigate a YouTuber who aired surveillance camera footage of election officials performing what it calls official duties to raise suspicions of vote rigging. The commission said it filed a complaint against the YouTuber, whose identity was withheld, with Seoul's Eunpyeong Police Station on charges of violating the election and criminal laws by obstructing public officials carrying out their official duties. The video posted Sunday by the YouTuber shows election officials of Seoul's Eunpyeong district and representatives of the People Power Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party (DP) putting ballot envelopes in early voting ballot boxes stored in an NEC-designated facility. It was taken from the NEC's CCTV footage of early voting ballot box storage sites. The YouTuber raised the possibility of vote fraud, claiming that the officials were illegally tampering with ballot boxes after early voting took place on Friday and Saturda y. But the NEC denied the allegations, saying the officials were handling ballots cast outside the district amid the presence of PPP and DP representatives after taking them over from the post office. The commission said in the complaint that the YouTuber posted false content to make it seem like the election officials were engaging in illegal activities, triggering widespread public suspicion of vote rigging by the NEC. Source: Yonhap News Agency