'Our basic rights were violated. We had no choice but to come out.'

"Our fundamental rights as citizens have been violated. We had no choice but to come out."

Outside the handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, protesters who gathered to demonstrate against the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections pointed to their right to vote as the reason they showed up.

Between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, The Herald Business conducted an on-site survey of 100 demonstrators near the Olympic Park handball arena, asking about their political leanings, reasons for attending and views on the need to reform the National Election Commission.

Of the 100 respondents, 64 were men and 36 were women. By age group, the breakdown was: four in their teens, 29 in their 20s, 19 in their 30s, 13 in their 40s, 13 in their 50s, 11 in their 60s, nine in their 70s and two in their 80s.

Asked why they came, the largest group — 56 respondents — said they were there "to protest violations of their fundamental rights." Twenty-one cited "opposition to election fraud," while 14 said they wanted "to highlight the current government's incompetence." The results suggest that being unable to properly exercise the right to vote resonated most strongly, though a significant number also linked the incident to broader concerns about electoral fraud. Others gave reasons such as "I was angry" or "I came to support young people."

Among those surveyed, 69 described their political leanings as "conservative." Twenty-four identified as "moderate," while only two said they were "progressive." Five declined to answer.

On the question of election commission reform, all 100 respondents said reform was necessary. Seventy-eight said they "strongly agreed," adding that the body should be "dissolved and reconstituted" or that those responsible should face "punishment."

The remaining 22, who answered "yes," said the current organization should be kept intact but that measures such as introducing oversight mechanisms were needed.

The rally drew a diverse crowd that no survey could fully capture. Among them was a 40-year-old surnamed Lee from Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province — one of only two respondents who identified as "progressive."

"I even suspect the current government may have exploited the election commission's complacency and sloppiness," he said.

'I have exams in two weeks, but I took an hour and a half to get here'

A high school student also made the trip from Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, riding the subway for an hour and a half to reach the protest site. An 18-year-old surnamed Jo and her friend, also 18 and surnamed Lee, said they had no right to vote but came to make their voices heard. "We have exams in about two weeks, but we thought national affairs matter more than college entrance exams," they said. "We came straight from school. Our parents think we went to study," they added with a laugh.

They also said they had been deeply moved by reading John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" and had come to believe in the importance of freedom. "We think holding a new election is the top priority," they added.

'If the same failures keep happening, isn't that fraud?'

A 55-year-old surnamed Ryu, a resident of Dogok-dong in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, said he had changed his morning walking route to attend the rally every day. "As a parent raising a child in their 20s, I felt I had to stand up against a flawed election," he said.

"If a flawed election keeps repeating itself, shouldn't we call it a fraudulent one?" Ryu said. "Early voting should be scrapped, and ballots should be counted properly by hand."

'I was furious watching an elderly man being dragged out of the rally'

A 25-year-old surnamed Kim from Paju said he came after seeing a video on social media of an elderly man being dragged out of the protest. "It makes no sense that citizens are being stripped of their right to vote," he said. "This is a democracy built through the pro-democracy movement. It's heartbreaking to see its spirit collapse in an instant."

"My political leanings are 'moderate,' but my parents support the Democratic Party," Kim said. "They tried to stop me from coming, and we had a huge fight before I left."