![Heo Cheol-hun, secretary-general of the National Election Commission, apologizes to the public over a ballot shortage at the NEC headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday, the voting day for the June 3 local elections. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/04/rcv.YNA.20260603.PYH2026060316710001300_P1.jpg)
Amid an unprecedented ballot shortage that disrupted voting across Seoul, the Justice Party called for the resignation of National Election Commission Chairman Noh Tae-ak.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the party said ballot papers ran out at 14 electoral districts in Seoul, forcing polling hours to be extended until 10 p.m. "A crisis that destroys the very foundation of democracy has unfolded," it said.
The party said the NEC had not only failed to uphold the integrity of elections but had "handed the worst possible pretext to conspiracy theorists who claim elections are rigged," and demanded that Chairman Noh step down immediately.
The party also criticized Noh for staying silent throughout the crisis, noting that only NEC Secretary-General Heo Cheol-hun had come forward to apologize and accept personal responsibility. "Chairman Noh must appear before the public right now, explain what happened and apologize," it said.
The Justice Party said the incident was "an inexcusably elementary blunder that cannot be dismissed as a minor mishap" and that a secretary-general's apology was not sufficient. "Chairman Noh must resign immediately, and the NEC must thoroughly review and correct its entrenched practices," it said.
The party also called on the NEC to devise reasonable and fair compensation for voters who were forced to wait in line outside polling stations for more than four hours.
yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com
