Songpa-gu voters denied suffrage as Seoul's most populous district runs out of ballots

Residents of Songpa-gu — Seoul's most populous district with the largest registered electorate — had their voting rights effectively denied Wednesday after polling stations ran out of ballots in an unprecedented breakdown. The National Election Commission declared voting closed at 11:50 p.m., but two ballot boxes in the district ultimately never reached the polling booths. The People Power Party was blunt. "This isn't the 19th century — how can something like this even happen?" a party official said.

According to the NEC, Songpa-gu has a population of 651,469 and 565,368 registered voters, ranking first among Seoul's 25 autonomous districts in both categories. The district has held Seoul's largest population for 18 consecutive years since the resident registration demographic tracking system was established in 2008.

As of 6:20 p.m. Wednesday, ballots had run out at 14 polling stations in total: 12 in Songpa-gu — covering Garak 2-dong, Jamsil 2-dong, Jamsil 4-dong, Jamsil 7-dong and Munjeong 2-dong — along with one in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, and one in Guui 3-dong, Gwangjin-gu. Many of the affected stations are located in areas considered conservative strongholds, adding fuel to opposition claims of electoral irregularities.

An NEC official said that with 146 polling stations across Songpa-gu, voter turnout at some stations exceeded projections, leading to the shortage. The official confirmed that the commission had printed ballots equivalent to only 50 percent of the total registered electorate.

The NEC apologized, saying it "recognizes the gravity of the situation" and would "identify the causes and problems and put measures in place to prevent a recurrence." Observers say the incident is likely to end up in court. Under current election law, not only political parties and candidates but also ordinary voters may file objections challenging the validity of an election.

A precedent exists overseas. In Berlin's Sept. 26, 2021 election, serious irregularities — including ballot shortages and the distribution of incorrect ballots — were discovered, ultimately leading to the election being invalidated through litigation and a re-run being held. The outcome changed both the mayoral result and the seat allocations of multiple parties in the legislature.

Berlin's state Constitutional Court noted at the time that voters had no way of knowing when polling stations would reopen, and that it was impossible to determine how many voters had simply gone home. In some constituencies, the court said, a difference of as few as 100 votes would have been enough to alter seat allocations.

Eom Ki-hong, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Kyungpook National University, said the commission may have followed administrative convention to avoid criticism over wasted ballots, but added that "ballots should have been prepared in line with the number of registered voters." Bae Cheol-ho, political editor at Realmeter, called the failure to forecast demand baffling. "The right approach would have been to prepare ballots assuming a 100 percent turnout," he said.

The NEC's total budget this year stands at 484.27 billion won (approximately $320 million), an increase of 120.87 billion won from the previous year to account for local election costs and other expenses. According to a report on South Korea's local public finances published by the National Assembly Budget Office last September, consolidated local government expenditure last year totaled 319.87 trillion won. Assuming that level of spending is sustained over the four-year terms of local government heads and council members, the cumulative figure reaches roughly 1,279.5 trillion won. Divided across the total electorate of 44.65 million voters, each vote carries an implied value of approximately 28.65 million won.