National Election Commission Chairman Noh Tae-ak. [Yonhap]
National Election Commission Chairman Noh Tae-ak. [Yonhap]

A court has ordered the preservation of certain ballot storage boxes and other materials as evidence in connection with the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections.

However, the court rejected requests to preserve the actual ballots used at polling stations in Songpa-gu where the shortage occurred, as well as ballot boxes later transferred to the Seoul Olympic Park handball gymnasium — the vote-counting venue for the Jamsil area.

The Seoul Eastern District Court's Civil Division 51 (presiding judge Kim Ji-yeon) partially granted a petition for evidence preservation filed by Kim Jeong-cheol, a supreme council member of the Reform Party, regarding ballot storage boxes and related materials, Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday.

The four items subject to preservation include a ballot storage box labeled "1,900 printed ballots" held at Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, and CCTV footage of the polling station and ballot box storage area from 8 a.m. June 3 through 9 p.m. June 5.

The presiding judge is also scheduled to visit Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong in person at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

As part of a verification process, the court plans to preserve the evidence by sealing the items and storing them in a separate location.

Nationwide shortage of 7,194 ballots confirmed during main vote

Separately, 7,194 ballots were found to have been missing at polling stations nationwide during the main vote of the local elections.

According to data submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Hee-yong by the National Election Commission, the NEC tallied shortages at 91 polling stations across the country on June 3, amounting to 7,194 ballots in total.

The NEC had previously told the office of PPP lawmaker Kim Min-jeon and others that 4,726 ballots were missing at 50 polling stations as of June 5 — making the newly confirmed figure roughly 1.5 times larger.

Amid the growing controversy, a joint investigation team of prosecutors and police is being formed at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to look into the ballot shortage.

The joint team will consist of 27 members — 12 prosecutors and 15 police officers.

Kim Tae-hun, the third deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, has been appointed to lead the team. Kim is regarded as a seasoned public security specialist, having previously served as head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's election investigation support division and chief of the public investigation third division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

President Lee Jae Myung directed on Sunday via a post on X, formerly Twitter, that "a joint investigation team involving prosecutors and police be formed to clearly establish accountability and thoroughly investigate the full scope of the incident" in connection with the ballot shortage.

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