Jin-an County Chief Poll: 1st Place Changes in a Month

In a public opinion poll conducted ahead of the Jin-an County Chief election, the use of secure phone numbers from the three major telecommunication companies surged during specific periods, including an increase of 1,400 secure numbers from LG Telecom after September 2025. Concurrently, the poll response rate also jumped significantly to 25.8%.

Some speculate that the poll numbers were temporarily adjusted due to rumors of impending police investigations.

After news broke that the search warrant requested by preliminary candidate Han Su-yong's side for the three major telecommunication companies was rejected, the volume of poll activity increased again. In March 2026, the use of secure phone numbers reached its peak at 11,000.

This is interpreted as a resumption of active polling activities once the pressure of the investigation subsided.

In the Jin-an County poll, an astonishing response rate of 48% was observed. This means one out of two people responded to the poll, a figure far exceeding the typical 5-10% response rate for wireless ARS polls.

Furthermore, despite such a high response rate, the survey reportedly concluded within 30 minutes, intensifying questions about the unrealistic results.

An analysis of the Jin-an County poll response rate trends confirmed that it jumped from 14.2% in January 2025 to a staggering 48% between January and March 2026. Such a rapid increase is an unusual phenomenon in typical public opinion polls.

The abnormal change in the response rate raises suspicions about the possibility of specific technical intervention in the polling process.

A clear reversal in candidate approval ratings was observed in the Jin-an County Chief poll. In the January 2025 survey, Han Su-yong led slightly with 26.4%, while incumbent County Chief Jeon Chun-seong had 26.2%.

However, in the September 2025 survey, the order completely reversed. Incumbent County Chief Jeon Chun-seong's approval rating surged to 34.1%, while Han Su-yong's plummeted to 15.9%, nearly half.

Such a drastic fluctuation in approval ratings led to an analysis suggesting that Jeon Chun-seong and Lee Wook-kyu are highly likely to advance to the final round.

Local media reports on public opinion polls also confirmed the unusual response rates in Jin-an County. KBS Jeonju Headquarters' poll showed Jin-an County with a 48.6% response rate, and Jeonbuk Ilbo's survey also recorded 48%.

Furthermore, Muju County recorded a response rate exceeding 50%, while Imsil County recorded the highest in the Jeonbuk region at 52%, indicating abnormally high response rates were observed in surrounding areas as well.