![Papers bearing slogans demanding a by-election are posted on a ticket booth outside the handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Sunday, as a protest blockade of the Jamsil vote-counting center continues. Demonstrators are calling for a new election over ballot shortages that marred the June 3 local elections. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/07/news-p.v1.20260607.346ae892594c4ca1a37138c6af6de11b_P1.jpg)
Some Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers on Sunday proposed holding by-elections only in areas where ballot shortages occurred during the June 3 local elections — a compromise against People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok's call for a nationwide re-vote.
Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Min-hee said on Facebook that Jang's demand for a full nationwide by-election was "unreasonable" and argued that new elections should be held only in the affected areas.
Fellow Democratic Party lawmaker Park Seon-won made a similar case on Facebook the same day. "Areas where ballot shortages occurred must hold by-elections," he said. He added that the National Election Commission should take responsibility and guarantee a re-vote. Early voting data from June 2 and 3 made it possible to project how many additional ballots would be needed, he said, yet the commission still failed to supply enough.
It was the first time since the June 3 local elections that Democratic Party members had publicly raised the need for a by-election.
According to the National Election Commission, ballot shortages occurred at 50 of the 14,288 polling stations nationwide during the June 3 local elections and National Assembly by-elections. By region, the shortages were reported at 33 stations in Seoul — including 14 in Songpa-gu — three in Busan, four in Daegu, six in Incheon, two in Ulsan and two in South Gyeongsang Province.
Earlier Sunday, PPP leader Jang wrote on Facebook that a by-election was "no longer an avoidable issue." He said the problem was not limited to Seoul, noting that the election commission had admitted to shortages at 50 polling stations, and called it "a nationwide and systemic failure."
The Democratic Party drew a line against any party-level discussion of a by-election. Party chief spokesperson Kang Jun-hyeon told reporters Sunday that the party had "not officially discussed" the matter, and suggested Jang was resorting to strong rhetoric because he found himself "politically cornered."
bbo@heraldcorp.com
