Jeonbuk Opinion Polls Face Scrutiny Over Age Manipulation

“When you answer that you are in your 60s or 70s, teh survey is immediately cut off. Say that you are in your 40s and receive it.”

In Jeonbuk, a stronghold of the Democratic party of Korea, controversy is rising over changes to the age range accepted in opinion polls ahead of the 9th simultaneous local elections in June. Calls for measures to accurately gauge public opinion are growing.

According to Jeonbuk political circles, as opinion polls are conducted by organizations at all levels in preparation for the Democratic Party’s primary – expected from late March to early April – concerns are deepening about the manipulation of age ranges by supporters aiming to boost approval ratings. Currently, there are no effective preventative measures in place.

Encouraging others to misrepresent their age to influence poll results, especially among those heavily involved in politics, is considered unethical and perhaps illegal. This exploits the difficulty of verifying age accurately during phone surveys.

Conversations within an Open Chat group related to recent Jeonbuk polls reveal instructions like, “People in their 70s should say they are in their 40s and answer the phone,” and “The survey ends when people in their 60s and 70s respond.More people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s should answer.”

This chat room, identified as a gathering for supporters of a specific candidate in the Jeonbuk region, has hundreds of members.