Hundreds surround Seoul polling station, dozens of riot police deployed amid ballot shortage dispute

Hundreds of people gathered outside a polling station in Seoul's Songpa-gu, demanding the election be declared invalid, with signs the standoff could escalate into a violent confrontation. Police deployed dozens of riot officers to the scene. A separate rally calling for a halt to vote counting also took place in Daegu.

As of midnight Thursday, hundreds of conservative-leaning YouTubers and citizens had surrounded the entrance to the Jamsil 7-dong Precinct 2 polling station, set up inside the senior citizens' center of Woosung Apartments in Songpa-gu, according to Yonhap News Agency. The polling station was in effect blockaded.

Protesters blocking the entrance threatened election commission officials who remained inside, demanding they stop the count.

Some in the crowd urged others to force their way in, with one person saying, "The glass window will break if you kick it — what are you waiting for?"

The protesters, who had initially focused on preventing ballot boxes from being removed, continued to rally, chanting slogans including calls for presidential impeachment through loudspeakers.

When a resident of the apartment complex confronted the crowd — saying, "This kind of clash is property destruction. Kids have school on Friday, June 5. What do you think you're doing?" — the protesters responded with collective jeers and resumed chanting slogans such as "Fraudulent election, completely invalid."

Protesters also publicly called for identifying and harassing journalists from progressive news outlets covering the scene.

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop arrived at the polling station around midnight to mediate. He received permission from the station's officer-in-charge to enter and began discussions inside, but the protesters showed no sign of dispersing and instead intensified their pressure.

Fellow PPP lawmaker Kim Eun-hye also arrived shortly after and declared, "This election is invalid."

Blocked by the protesters, the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission was unable to remove the ballot boxes from the station.

Dozens of police officers, responding to a request for assistance from the Seoul election commission, were deployed around the polling station at around 12:30 a.m.

As protesters chanted "Arrest the election commission" and the crowd grew more agitated, the possibility of a physical clash with police arose.

The Seoul election commission was expected to remove the ballot boxes and proceed with counting once police cleared the scene.

The polling station was one that had extended its voting deadline to 10 p.m. for voters who had received a verification slip matching them to the electoral roll.

The Seoul election commission took the unprecedented step of extending voting hours at the station to accommodate voters who had been turned away due to a ballot shortage.

About 10 voters who had received verification slips — exchangeable for ballots — had not yet cast their votes, prompting the extension to 10 p.m. The commission also broadcast announcements over the apartment complex's intercom urging them to vote.

As of 12:31 a.m. Thursday, around 100 people had also gathered outside the Jung-gu Election Commission office in Daegu, chanting slogans including "Stop the count" and "Disband the election commission."

The rally participants raised allegations of election mismanagement, citing cases at some polling stations in Seoul's Songpa-gu and Gangnam-gu where ballot shortages had left voters waiting or unable to cast their votes.

Carrying banners bearing the words "fraudulent election," they denounced the election commission, with some demanding a halt to counting and a re-run of the vote.