Ballot boxes trapped in Jamsil as ballot shortage sparks all-night standoff

Crowds gather outside the No. 2 polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Thursday morning. Voting at the site was extended until 10 p.m. Wednesday after ballots ran out during the nationwide local elections. [Lee Woo-jung, junior reporter]

Residents keep overnight vigil outside Jamsil polling station

'Election invalid' chants continue into morning

Conservative figures gather outside election commission in Gwacheon

"The public is furious. We can't keep this standoff going forever — please do the right thing."

Around 7 a.m. Thursday, some 150 people surrounded the entrance of a building in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul — a senior community center inside the Woosung apartment complex that had overnight become a flashpoint for chants of "fraudulent election" and other political slogans. Some who had stayed up through the night looked worn out, but a man with a megaphone kept calling out: "Electoral fairness has been broken" and "This election is invalid."

The polling station was one of 14 sites across the country where an unprecedented ballot shortage occurred Wednesday. Voters who had received queue tickets were allowed to cast their ballots until 10 p.m. That extension prompted some voters to declare they could not trust the process, and conservative YouTubers began arriving in numbers. The National Election Commission declared voting closed around 11:50 p.m., but demonstrators blocked the way, and two ballot boxes at the site could not be moved to the counting center. The commission estimated the two boxes contained roughly 2,000 votes.

Through the night, those gathered outside chanted "Stop the count," "The election is invalid" and "Disband the election commission," holding their ground as some YouTubers livestreamed the scene. Food containers and drink bottles from delivery orders littered the area around people who had been there since the previous night. One person was seen handing out kimbap they had brought from home.

Police riot units are deployed outside the No. 2 polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, in the early hours of Thursday, after voting was extended to 10 p.m. Wednesday due to a ballot shortage during the 9th nationwide local elections and National Assembly by-elections. [Joint press corps/Yonhap]

Shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday, news broke that Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon had pulled ahead of rival Jeong Won-o in the count. Some in the crowd reacted with relief. But Lee Hyeon-jin, 31, a Songpa-gu resident who said she had kept watch outside the Jamsil 7-dong polling station all night, was unmoved. "Even if Oh Se-hoon has taken the lead, I cannot accept the result regardless of who wins," she said. "We need to raise questions and hold a revote — otherwise this kind of thing will keep happening."

A man in his 40s said he was weighing how to explain his absence to his employer. "Everyone has their own schedule and may have to leave, but we need to hold this place for at least a few days," he said.

As the crowd outside the polling station swelled overnight, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency deployed up to 470 riot officers. Authorities held back from taking physical action out of concern for public safety, and about 120 riot officers remained on standby around the apartment complex Thursday morning. The election commission had yet to announce how it would handle the situation at the site.

'Yoon Again' slogans surface at Gwacheon election commission

Police riot officers block the main gate of the National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday morning, as protesters rally against the ballot shortage that disrupted local elections the previous day. [Yonhap]

At the same time, an all-night rally was underway outside the National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as supporters of fraud allegations gathered in growing numbers. A truck fitted with an LED display reading "Fraudulent election — null and void from the start" served as a makeshift stage. Jeon Han-gil and Cho Jeong-jin, former head of Sky Daily, were among those who arrived in the early morning hours. "As of yesterday, South Korea is finished. Let's steel ourselves for a fight that could last a month," Cho shouted to the crowd. About 100 police riot officers stood in a line in front of the commission's main gate, watching the rally.

Around 150 people held their positions at the site. Many wore clothing and chanted slogans reminiscent of last year's rallies against the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Numerous demonstrators were spotted carrying both South Korean and American flags, or wearing caps bearing phrases such as "Yoon Again" and "Destroy communism."

Some demonstrators moved toward the commission's rear entrance in an attempt to block the commission chairperson from entering the building. When election commission staff stepped in to stop protesters from lying down in the road, a torrent of aggressive remarks followed — including "Let's ram them with a car" and "How serious do you think things are for us to be up all night?"

arin@heraldcorp.com
20ki@heraldcorp.com
newday@heraldcorp.com