Ballot shortage probe stalls over missing box

A court inspection of a polling station in Seoul’s Songpa district on Tuesday failed to locate a ballot storage box tied to allegations of a ballot shortage during the June 3 local election, after the site had already been cleared following voting.

The box, regarded as key evidence in determining whether election officials prepared only 1,900 ballots for a precinct with fewer than half of eligible voters, could not be found during the on-site review. It was believed to have been removed after the polling station was dismantled.

At about 3 p.m., Judge Kim Ji-yeon of the Seoul Eastern District Court, along with Kim Jung-cheol, a senior official of the Reform Party who filed the request to preserve evidence, and election commission staff, visited the Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station under a court order.

The inspection concluded at 3:26 p.m., about 26 minutes later, after the team was unable to locate the storage box labeled as containing 1,900 printed ballots. Kim said the site had already been cleared and that even election officials did not know where the box was kept.

“The entire site had been cleared, so the box was not there, and even the election commission did not know where it was stored,” Kim said. “I think this is a serious issue.”

The missing box is considered central to allegations that the Songpa district election commission set ballot printing below the 50% minimum threshold, potentially contributing to the shortage. The Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 precinct had 3,856 registered voters, and the dispute centers on whether only 1,900 ballots were prepared, fewer than half that number.

The court, however, rejected a request to preserve already cast ballots stored in ballot boxes, citing insufficient grounds.

Separately, police investigating former National Election Commission Chairperson Noh Tae-ak are coordinating schedules with officials from election commissions in Songpa, Dongjak, Gangnam, Seocho and Gwangjin districts. Police are also reviewing closed-circuit television footage from selected polling stations to reconstruct conditions on election day.

Meanwhile, student councils from 18 universities nationwide, including Seoul National University, issued a joint statement at 6 p.m. condemning the ballot shortage. The groups held campus rallies, speeches, marches and slogan chants, calling for accountability and describing the incident as a violation of basic democratic rights and sovereignty.

They demanded a parliamentary investigation, a special counsel probe and structural reform of the National Election Commission.

The emergency committee of Yonsei University’s student council said, “We can no longer remain silent in the face of the democracy that activist Lee Han-yeol sought to defend,” urging lawmakers to immediately launch a parliamentary investigation and hold those responsible accountable.


전남혁 기자 forward@donga.com