Attorney Do Tae-woo [Newsis]
Attorney Do Tae-woo [Newsis]

A fourth constitutional complaint has been filed with the Constitutional Court over a ballot shortage that disrupted voting at last week's local elections, with petitioners arguing the incident violated their fundamental rights.

The Advanced Lawyers Association, led by attorney Do Tae-woo, said Monday it had submitted a complaint to the Constitutional Court seeking a ruling that the National Election Commission's failure to maintain records on ballot paper output and distribution — and its role in causing shortages at 67 polling stations — was unconstitutional.

The association also filed an injunction request seeking to prevent any movement or alteration of remaining ballot papers.

Do said 35,216 people joined the complaint and injunction request, including residents of Jamsil 7-dong. Do previously served as a defense attorney for former President Yoon Suk Yeol during his impeachment trial.

"The crux of the matter is that the National Election Commission kept no records on the output and delivery of blank ballot paper stock, nor on the output and delivery of printed ballots on election day, and had no preventive inspection or post-election audit system in place — all of which led to ballot shortages at 67 polling stations," Do said.

Citizens protesting the ballot shortage at the 9th nationwide simultaneous local elections call for a re-election outside the vote-counting center set up at the handball gymnasium in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Saturday. [Newsis]
Citizens protesting the ballot shortage at the 9th nationwide simultaneous local elections call for a re-election outside the vote-counting center set up at the handball gymnasium in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Saturday. [Newsis]

Do went on to say that "these acts and omissions infringe on national sovereignty, the right to political participation, the right to a fair election, equal suffrage, the right to know, and the principle of due process."

Three earlier constitutional complaints related to the ballot shortage were filed on June 4 and June 6.

All were brought by ordinary citizens and argued that their right to vote had been violated by an insufficient supply of ballots.

The Constitutional Court will first refer the complaints to a three-justice panel to determine whether they meet the legal requirements for review.

If the panel finds the petitions admissible, they will be sent to the full bench of nine justices for deliberation. Complaints that fail to meet certain admissibility requirements — including the "supplementary requirement," which demands that petitioners exhaust all other available legal remedies before turning to the Constitutional Court — may be dismissed at the preliminary screening stage.


husn7@heraldcorp.com