Ballot shortage fallout widens as universities issue political declarations

The fallout from the ballot shortage that struck polling stations on the day of the June 3 local elections continues to intensify.

As mounting evidence points to systemic mismanagement by the National Election Commission, university student councils have begun mobilizing in force. Political parties have signaled they will push for an investigation and institutional reforms at the commission, but diverging views between the ruling and opposition parties on how to proceed raise the prospect of the issue devolving into partisan conflict.

According to documents submitted to People Power Party lawmakers Kim Seung-su and Kim Min-jeon by the National Election Commission, the commission lowered the minimum ballot printing threshold from 60 percent to 50 percent in its comprehensive management guidelines for the 9th nationwide simultaneous local elections — a change made on Dec. 10 last year without a formal meeting, approved solely by the secretary-general.

The minimum printing standard was reduced through the sole authorization of just two officials, with no separate official meeting convened. On Dec. 24 of the same year, the director of the election policy division made an identical revision to the official election procedures manual — again without holding a formal meeting.

Under the revised guidelines, the Songpa-gu election commission set the ballot printing ratio at 50 percent for 25 of its 27 precincts, excluding Jamsil 3 and 4 dong. In the actual election, however, Songpa-gu recorded a turnout of 65.8 percent — higher than Seoul's average of 63.6 percent — triggering the ballot shortage.

By contrast, the Ongjin-gun election commission in Incheon prepared ballots for 100 percent of registered voters on election day, while Gangwon Province printed enough for 66 percent — a disparity that has fueled criticism over inconsistent standards across regions.

The National Election Commission defended the decision to lower the threshold to 50 percent, citing concerns including rising early voting rates, difficulty securing printing facilities within tight timeframes, challenges in inspecting and storing millions of ballots, and the risk of losing leftover ballots.

But local election commissions not only failed to prepare sufficient ballots — they also had no guidelines for handling shortages, including procedures and division of responsibilities. The commission said situation updates were delayed because staff of just six to 13 people had to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, including managing voting, processing mail-in ballots and overseeing vote counting, which prevented immediate reporting when problems arose.

According to the commission, ballot shortages have now been confirmed at 91 polling stations nationwide. The number of missing ballots has also grown: the initial figure reported was 4,726, but documents the commission submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Jung Hee-yong on Tuesday put the total at 7,194.

Amid the widening controversy, student councils at major universities have jointly issued political declarations condemning the ballot shortage and are coordinating collective action. Student councils from 16 universities across the country have joined the declarations.

Hwang In-seo, emergency committee chair of the Yonsei University student council, said he hoped university students could contribute to the advancement of representative democracy by speaking out, just as students did more than 30 years ago in defense of voting rights.

The Kyung Hee University student council said the students who took to the streets in June 1987 showed that democracy must be defended through action, not silence, and vowed not to stay silent over a crisis caused by the commission's incompetence. The Sungkyunkwan University student council said it was joining the nationwide declaration in solidarity with students across the country, seeking to advance a democratic society built on trust.

The National Student Council Association, an umbrella body representing student councils at more than 100 universities, said in a June 5 statement of condemnation that a constitutional body responsible for administering elections had failed to fully guarantee every citizen's vote — a serious dereliction of duty and a challenge to popular sovereignty. "This amounts to the theft of the suffrage that the people have fought hard to protect," the association said.

As anger among young people mounted, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok held a meeting with university students on Sunday, sitting down with current and former student council representatives to discuss the ballot shortage. At the meeting, the representatives urged the government to pursue a full investigation in the name of defending democracy, beyond partisan considerations, given the damage done to citizens' right to vote.

Meanwhile, protests led primarily by people in their 20s and 30s have continued for six consecutive days since Thursday at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, which had served as a vote-counting venue.