Election commission lowered ballot threshold without meeting

South Korea's National Election Commission lowered the minimum ballot-printing requirement from 60% to 50% of registered voters ahead of the June 3 local elections and approved the change through internal sign-off procedures without holding a formal meeting or keeping official minutes, according to documents obtained by lawmakers.

Documents submitted by the commission to People Power Party lawmaker Song Eon-seok and released on June 9 show that the agency issued its “Comprehensive Guidelines for the 9th Local Elections” on Dec. 10, reducing the minimum ballot-printing threshold from 60% to 50%. The change was later incorporated into a revised election procedures manual on Dec. 24.

The commission told Song that the guidelines were prepared after collecting input from relevant departments and then approved internally before being distributed to regional election offices. It also said revisions to the procedures manual reflected feedback from election commissions nationwide. However, the commission acknowledged that no separate meeting was held and that no minutes were produced.

The revelation has drawn attention because the decision is now viewed as a contributing factor in the unprecedented ballot shortage that disrupted voting.

The handling of ballot-printing decisions by local election offices has also come under scrutiny. The procedures manual states that ballot quantities may be adjusted by precinct based on local conditions, including expected early-voting turnout. In Seoul's Songpa District, election-day turnout exceeded 50% in both the 2014 and 2018 local elections. Despite that history, officials applied the manual's minimum threshold, leading to a suspension of voting after ballots were exhausted.

The Metropolitan Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is investigating the circumstances surrounding the ballot shortage, including how the reduced printing threshold was adopted. Police have asked election commission employees in Seoul's Songpa, Gangnam, Gwangjin, Dongjak and Seocho districts to appear as witnesses.


권구용 9dragon@donga.com