Protests over ballot shortage show no sign of abating

Demonstrations triggered by an unprecedented ballot shortage have spread to the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where votes are being counted. The protests began at the Jamsil Woosung apartment complex — site of the affected polling station — immediately after local elections closed Wednesday and have continued to grow.

By 7 a.m. Saturday, roughly 500 people were still maintaining an overnight vigil outside the gymnasium, according to an unofficial police estimate cited by multiple online outlets and Yonhap News Agency.

Surrounding the venue, demonstrators chanted slogans calling for a re-election and kept watch to prevent ballot boxes from being removed. As a result, an estimated 20 to 30 election commission officials who had finished counting the previous day were believed to be unable to leave the building.

The crowd peaked at around 7,000 at one point. Although numbers have since declined, protesters remain in a standoff with dozens of police riot units.

According to online reports, most participants are in their 20s and 30s and joined spontaneously. One internet user who said they live in Jamsil described the scene Saturday morning, writing that people were gathering and police were arriving more quickly.

The demonstration outside the counting center began at 10 a.m. Friday, after ballot boxes from Jamsil 7-dong — the precinct at the center of the shortage — were transferred to the venue following a police-assisted intervention.