Ballot shortage mars local elections as election commission bows in apology

The June 3 local elections were badly marred by an unprecedented ballot shortage, dealing a severe blow to the credibility and authority of the National Election Commission even as it issued repeated public apologies.

In a statement released early Thursday, the NEC said it was "deeply sorry for the significant confusion and inconvenience caused to voters who visited polling stations where ballots ran out on June 3, preventing them from exercising their right to vote."

The shortage emerged Wednesday afternoon at several polling stations, including some in Seoul's Songpa-gu, where voters were left waiting as ballots ran out. At the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, voting was extended until 10 p.m. Wednesday. A tense standoff also broke out when NEC officials attempted to remove ballot boxes from one of the affected stations, with citizens moving to block them as police and commission staff looked on.

The NEC said it "felt enormous responsibility for the deep disappointment and concern caused to voters who took precious time out of their day to come to the polls and participate in democracy, only to be let down by the commission's own mistakes." Earlier Wednesday night, Secretary-General Heo Cheol-hun had already issued a separate public apology on behalf of the commission.

The NEC also said it had decided to "make every possible effort to investigate the cause of this incident and establish measures to prevent a recurrence as soon as vote counting is complete." It pledged again to fully explain the cause and remedies to the public and ensure the situation would not recur, apologizing once more for failing to ensure the smooth exercise of voters' suffrage.

The NEC drew a clear line, however, against calls from opposition parties and others for a postponement or re-election. It said the ballot shortage at some polling stations "does not constitute grounds for postponing the election or holding a by-election under the Public Official Election Act."

The commission added that halting the ongoing vote count was therefore "not possible," and that ballot boxes from the affected stations "must be transferred to the counting center so that the votes cast there can be verified."

The People Power Party reacted with fury. PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok held an emergency press conference Wednesday night, declaring that "the Seoul vote was an election in which voters' right to vote and right to political participation were seriously violated." He called the Seoul Metropolitan Government election "tainted and invalid," demanded an immediate halt to counting and said the Seoul vote should be re-run once an investigation concluded.

The Democratic Party of Korea also called for the NEC to be held accountable. Party Secretary-General Jo Seung-rae said the matter "cannot be brushed aside with a simple apology," adding that "someone must be held responsible — before or after the fact — for why ballots were managed so poorly." The Democratic Party, however, aligned itself with the NEC in dismissing calls for a postponement or re-election as not worth considering.

Political observers say the incident has reignited longstanding questions about the NEC's competence. During the 2022 presidential election, the commission drew ridicule when it transported early ballots cast by COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine in makeshift wicker baskets — an episode that became known as the "basket ballot" controversy. During last year's presidential election, voters standing in line at a Seoul polling station were seen eating meals after receiving their ballots before returning to cast them, prompting another apology. A ruling camp official said it was "simply frustrating that the NEC keeps handing ammunition to those who push election fraud conspiracy theories."