NEC chief resigns over ballot shortage; Supreme Court chief justice accepts

Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de has accepted the resignation of National Election Commission Chairman Noh Tae-ak, who stepped down over a ballot shortage that disrupted voting during the June 3 local elections.

Jo revoked Noh's designation as a central NEC commissioner Monday afternoon and notified the commission accordingly, according to legal sources.

The NEC is composed of nine commissioners — three appointed by the president, three elected by the National Assembly and three designated by the Supreme Court chief justice. By convention, the NEC chairmanship has been held by a sitting Supreme Court justice serving as a commissioner.

Noh was appointed NEC chairman in May 2022 under a designation by former Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su.

Jo had tapped Supreme Court Justice Cheon Dae-yeop as Noh's successor ahead of Noh's retirement from the Supreme Court in March. The confirmation hearing process for Cheon's NEC appointment was never completed, however, leaving Noh in the chairmanship even after his judicial retirement. NEC commissioners serve six-year terms, which run independently of their tenure on the Supreme Court bench.

With Noh's departure, the NEC's deputy secretary-general now holds the highest full-time position at the commission.

Noh had announced his resignation on June 5.

Speaking at the NEC's Gwacheon headquarters, he issued a public apology, saying he "feels full responsibility for everything that has happened" and would step down as NEC chairman.

"The public's strong interest in local governance and their active participation through voting has been undermined by the ballot shortage," Noh said. "As NEC chairman, I feel profound shame and an unbounded sense of responsibility that public trust in election administration has been damaged and is giving way to distrust in the electoral process."

He added that the NEC would "faithfully cooperate with all procedures to establish the commission's responsibility for this incident, including a parliamentary investigation, and will never evade accountability for whatever consequences follow."

The ballot shortage occurred on June 3 — the main voting day for the 9th nationwide local elections — when some polling stations in Seoul's Gangnam-gu, Gwangjin-gu and Songpa-gu ran out of ballots, forcing voters to wait and triggering widespread criticism of the NEC's management of the elections.

The NEC plans to establish a fact-finding committee composed of outside experts to determine the cause of the shortage and develop measures to prevent a recurrence.

Noh said the commission would "identify the root causes and problems that led to the ballot shortage, examine how the situation was handled, and draw up improvement measures to prevent it from happening again — disclosing all findings in full detail."

인천시선관위, “송도1·2동 사전투표 득표수 일치, 조작 아닌 우연한 결과”

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