Incheon election commission apologizes after ballot shortages hit polling stations

The Incheon Metropolitan Election Commission apologized Thursday after ballot shortages disrupted voting at several polling stations in the city during the June 3 local elections.

The commission issued a press release Thursday saying it was "sorry for the ballot shortage on election day" and acknowledged that it had caused "inconvenience to citizens who visited polling stations to exercise their precious right to vote."

With less than an hour left in the voting period on Wednesday afternoon, ballots ran out at the No. 1 polling station in Songdo 5-dong and the No. 6 polling station in Dongchun 1-dong, both in Yeonsu-gu, forcing voters to wait for dozens of minutes.

At the Songdo 5-dong station, ballots were depleted around 5:33 p.m., halting voting for about 20 minutes until additional ballots arrived. More than 70 voters waited in line before voting wrapped up around 6:10 p.m.

At the Dongchun 1-dong station, a shortage was anticipated and extra ballots were sent in advance — but those too ran out, suspending voting for about 10 minutes from around 5:15 p.m. before it resumed.

The commission attributed the disruptions to a sudden surge in voter turnout.

"The number of ballots printed for the Yeonsu-gu area was calculated based on 50 percent of registered voters, taking into account the expected early voting rate and recent election turnout figures," the commission said, adding that the figure assumed an overall turnout of 70 percent minus an estimated early voting rate of 20 percent.

"However, the number of election-day voters surged at those particular stations, causing the ballot shortage," it said. The commission also thanked voters who "stayed and cast their ballots despite waiting 10 to 20 minutes."

Meanwhile, similar shortages hit polling stations in Gangnam-gu, Gwangjin-gu and Songpa-gu in Seoul on the same day, triggering an unprecedented wave of chaos in which citizens blockaded polling stations and riot police were deployed.

National Election Commission Chairman Noh Tae-ak is scheduled to issue a public apology Friday at 4 p.m. at the commission's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.

‘삼전닉스’ 쉼없이 팔더니, ‘뉴 깐부’ 종목 폭풍 매수…외국인 투자 종목 살펴보니 [투자360]

https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10763384