Joint investigation unit wraps up election commission search, prepares wave of summons over ballot shortage

The joint police-prosecutor investigation unit probing the ballot shortage that disrupted the June 3 local elections has completed its search and seizure of the National Election Commission and is preparing to begin formal summons questioning. The unit is zeroing in on why the commission printed ballots equivalent to only 50 percent of registered voters, and plans to intensively investigate the circumstances surrounding the disposal of ballot storage boxes at a Jamsil polling station.

According to legal sources on Sunday, the joint unit — led by chief Kim Tae-hun — wrapped up its search of the election commission's servers on Saturday. Seized materials are said to include internal messaging records and approval logs from the National Election Commission. The unit spent the weekend setting up its office and accelerating analysis of the seized materials.

Investigators plan to examine the full picture of the ballot shortage: its causes, the decision-making process behind it, and how officials responded after the fact. They will also scrutinize whether former commission chairman Noh Tae-ak and other senior figures exerted undue influence over the decision to print the reduced number of ballots.

The first round of questioning is expected to target working-level election commission staff from the districts where shortages occurred — Songpa-gu, Seocho-gu, Gangnam, Gwangjin-gu and Dongjak-gu. Once those interviews are complete, investigators are expected to turn their focus to the decision-making process and those at the top, including former Chairman Noh.

The disposal of a ballot storage box from the Jamsil 7-dong polling station — which held approximately 1,900 ballots — is also a key focus of the investigation. The Seoul Eastern District Court conducted an on-site inspection at the No. 2 polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, on June 10, seeking to secure the ballot storage box, only to find that the election commission had already disposed of it.

Earlier, the Ministry of Justice imposed travel bans on June 11 on former Chairman Noh, former Secretary General Heo Cheol-hun and other individuals connected to the ballot shortage, acting on a request from the joint unit. Police had previously booked former Chairman Noh and about 10 others on charges including dereliction of duty and violations of the Public Official Election Act. On the same day, the joint unit carried out searches at seven locations: the National Election Commission, the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission, and the district commissions for Songpa-gu, Seocho-gu, Gangnam, Gwangjin-gu and Dongjak-gu.

The unit is expected to press ahead at an accelerated pace, given that the statute of limitations under the Public Official Election Act runs just six months from election day. The urgency is compounded by the planned dissolution of the Prosecution Service in October, when a new Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and a separate Public Prosecution Office are set to launch.

Meanwhile, protests blocking the Jamsil vote-counting center — sparked by the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections — entered their tenth consecutive day on Sunday. Crowds that had thinned on weekdays swelled again over the weekend, with families turning out despite temperatures approaching 30 degrees Celsius.

As of 2 p.m. Sunday, Seoul Metropolitan Government real-time urban data showed the population inside Olympic Park at up to 16,000. Those in their 30s made up the largest share by age group, at 22.9 percent. The weekend surge was attributed to families and young people in their 20s and 30s who had been unable to join weekday demonstrations due to work and school commitments.