A citizen holds a sign outside Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, protesting the removal of ballot boxes. [Yonhap]
A citizen holds a sign outside Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, protesting the removal of ballot boxes. [Yonhap]

Evidence has emerged that on-site civil servants were sending warnings about a ballot shortage more than two hours before voting was suspended at multiple polling stations during the 9th nationwide local elections.

According to a group KakaoTalk chat among Songpa-gu civil servants and election commission officials — made public by the Korean Government Employees' Union — clerks at polling stations began raising alarms about a ballot shortage from 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the day of the vote.

At 2:17 p.m., a clerk from Jamsil 2-dong wrote in the chat that polling station clerks were calling in with concerns about running low on ballots, but the election commission was only responding that it was "monitoring the situation" and could not confirm whether additional ballots would be supplied. The clerk asked at what percentage of remaining ballots each station should request a resupply.

The head of the election commission's Election Section 1 replied two minutes later, saying additional ballots were being distributed based on a 60 percent turnout threshold, factoring in early voting rates. Six minutes after that, a coordinator from Jamsil 4-dong reported that Polling Station No. 7 had only 35 ballots left with a long line of waiting voters. A clerk from Garak 2-dong also asked about resupply around 2:37 p.m.

After 4 p.m., reports of suspended voting came in rapid succession. At 4:41 p.m., a message read: "Jamsil 7-dong Polling Station No. 2 — voting suspended." At 4:48 p.m.: "Garak 2-dong Polling Station No. 3 — suspended." Clerks also sent urgent appeals, saying they could not continue due to complaints from voters suspecting election fraud over the ballot situation, and asking whether they could call in police support, describing conditions on the ground as extremely difficult.

Ultimately, voters at 14 polling stations were left waiting without being able to cast their ballots — 12 in Songpa-gu and one each in Gangnam-gu and Gwangjin-gu. The election commission made an emergency resupply of ballots and extended the voting deadline to 10 p.m.

Ballot boxes are transported to a counting center Friday after police dispersed protesters at Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
Ballot boxes are transported to a counting center Friday after police dispersed protesters at Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

At Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, protesters claiming election fraud blocked the removal of ballot boxes for two nights and three days. On Friday morning, about 1,000 police officers were deployed and physically removed dozens of protesters who had locked arms, one by one, in a process that turned physical. The two ballot boxes were removed 35 hours after voting closed, and counting was completed Friday.

Six people were injured at the polling station and at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium, which served as the counting center. Three were taken to hospital, though all sustained only minor injuries.

Even after counting was completed, citizens and conservative-leaning YouTubers alleging election fraud gathered outside the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium, demanding that the count be halted.

The Korean Government Employees' Union issued a statement Friday calling the ballot shortage "an incident that shakes the very foundation of South Korean democracy," and claiming that "citizens' right to vote was trampled by the election commission's complacent administration and failure to anticipate demand."

The union went on to say that if the election commission's "incompetent handling of election duties and its pattern of disregarding on-site civil servants" continued, its members would "no longer serve as scapegoats for election administration." It warned that it would "refuse all mobilization for future elections" if concrete measures to prevent a recurrence were not put in place.

Meanwhile, Noh Tae-ak, chairman of the National Election Commission, abruptly announced his resignation in connection with the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections.

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[단독] 오세훈, 성수동서도 정원오 이겼다…1700여표 ‘우위’ [서울N]

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