Songpa-gu ran short 2,193 ballots, Gwangjin-gu 450 on election day; National Election Commission refuses to submit meeting minutes from all 25 Seoul district boards
The election management commissions of Seoul's Songpa-gu and Gwangjin-gu approved motions to reduce ballot print runs by 50% through written votes rather than holding formal committee meetings, a lawmaker's investigation has found.
Rep. Jeong Hee-yong of the People Power Party, who represents North Gyeongsang Province's Goryeong-gun, Seongju-gun and Chilgok-gun, said Wednesday he had confirmed the findings after conducting a comprehensive review of ballot-reduction resolutions passed by all 25 district election commissions in Seoul.
Under the National Election Commission's official procedural manual for public elections, when a commission determines that reducing the number of printed ballots is warranted — based on recent voter turnout trends — the decision must be made by a formal vote of the district or municipal committee.
Despite that requirement, both the Songpa-gu and Gwangjin-gu commissions processed motions to cut ballot print runs to 50% of the projected electorate through written votes, bypassing formal committee meetings entirely.
When Jeong's office contacted a Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission official for clarification, the official confirmed that the Songpa-gu commission had approved the motion by written vote and acknowledged that no meeting had been held and therefore no minutes existed. The official said the commission had attempted to schedule a meeting but could not find a suitable date.
The Gwangjin-gu commission told Jeong's office that a motion had been submitted April 27 but that no committee meeting had convened afterward, forcing the commission to process it by written vote on May 7. It said no minutes existed and explained that the National Election Commission had issued a directive requiring district commissions to resolve ballot print numbers by May 11, leaving it no choice but to proceed by written vote to meet that deadline.
The ballot shortages materialized on election day, after the 50% reduction had been approved without formal meetings.
In Songpa-gu, a total of 2,193 ballots ran short across 20 polling stations. The worst-affected sites included Polling Station No. 7 in Jamsil 4-dong (436 ballots short), Polling Station No. 3 in Garak 2-dong (252), Polling Station No. 4 in Munjeong 1-dong (191), Polling Station No. 5 in Jamsil 4-dong (190) and Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong (179). Voting was suspended at 15 stations for periods ranging from 10 minutes to 105 minutes, leaving voters waiting in line.
In Gwangjin-gu, four polling stations ran short a combined 450 ballots — Polling Station No. 6 in Guui 3-dong (278 short), Polling Station No. 7 in Jayang 3-dong (126), Polling Station No. 2 in Gwangjang-dong (32) and Polling Station No. 1 in Guui 3-dong (14). Voting was suspended for nine minutes at Polling Station No. 6 in Guui 3-dong and five minutes at Polling Station No. 7 in Jayang 3-dong.
The National Election Commission has refused to submit the meeting minutes — or records of written-vote proceedings — from all 25 Seoul district commissions, Jeong said. It cited Article 9, Paragraph 1, Item 5 of the Act on Disclosure of Information by Public Institutions, which exempts documents related to ongoing decision-making processes.
"It is difficult to accept that documents directly tied to citizens' right to vote are being withheld on the grounds that they constitute a decision-making process," Jeong said. "A thorough review of the entire process behind the ballot reduction decision — which caused an unprecedented shortage — is necessary. The National Election Commission must submit the relevant materials immediately."
bigroot@heraldcorp.com
