The Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on June 24, when the joint prosecution-police investigation team launched a forced investigation targeting officials from the Seoul and Songpa-gu election commissions over the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections. [Yonhap]
The Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on June 24, when the joint prosecution-police investigation team launched a forced investigation targeting officials from the Seoul and Songpa-gu election commissions over the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections. [Yonhap]

The joint prosecution-police investigation team probing the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections has found evidence that local election commissions failed to follow established guidelines even after being warned that a shortage was possible.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the team obtained a work-notification email titled "Precautions Regarding Ballot Management Operations" during a search and seizure of the National Election Commission's servers and has been examining how election authorities responded afterward.

The NEC sent the email to district and county election commissions nationwide on May 31, immediately after early voting ended, warning that precincts with low early-voting turnout could face ballot shortages on election day and urging them to prepare countermeasures, including distributing additional unnumbered ballots.

Investigators suspect that local commissions failed to properly follow the guidelines despite having already received early-voting turnout data and the NEC's warning. Had they acted on that data and the notification, the team believes, they should have taken precautions against a shortage — but no adequate preparations were made.

The joint team believes the worst-case scenario of running out of ballots on election day could have been prevented had local commissions complied with existing guidelines and regulations.

Investigators are also continuing to look into how the number of ballots printed came to be capped at 50 percent of registered voters.

On Saturday, the team summoned a Songpa-gu election commissioner as a reference witness to determine whether internal concerns had been raised during the process of reducing the ballot print count.

Since its launch last month, the joint team has focused on reconstructing the events of election day by questioning more than 70 people, including officials from polling stations that ran short of ballots and staff from local election commissions.

Once investigators wrap up questioning of NEC and Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission officials, the probe is expected to move up the chain of command.

Investigators are also expected to question those involved in allegations that former NEC Chairman Noh Tae-ak and commission staff took overseas trips that were essentially leisure travel, as the complainant has already been interviewed.

Meanwhile, the joint team received an additional prosecutor on Wednesday, when Im Hong-seok, a senior prosecutor from the Tongyeong branch of the Changwon District Prosecutors Office, was assigned to the unit. Starting Monday, two more line prosecutors will join.

Procedures are also underway to bring in additional police personnel to bolster the investigation team's capacity.


20ki@heraldcorp.com