PPP files election complaints over ballot shortages in 6 regions, including Seoul and Busan

The People Power Party decided to file election complaints with the National Election Commission over ballot shortages that occurred during the June 3 local elections in six regions: Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, Ulsan, Busan and Gwangju in South Jeolla Province.

Chief PPP spokesperson Choi Bo-yun announced the decision at a briefing following an emergency supreme council meeting held at the National Assembly on Monday afternoon, convened at the call of party leader Jang Dong-hyeok.

The complaints cover six categories of local elections held across those five regions: regional government head, basic government head, metropolitan council member, basic council member, metropolitan proportional representative and basic proportional representative. National Assembly by-elections and education superintendent elections held concurrently were excluded.

Choi explained why the party moved quickly through the supreme council rather than a full floor caucus. "For local election complaints, the party leader is the authorized filer, and the legal deadline falls on Wednesday," she said. She added that floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik attended the meeting and ensured the floor caucus's views were fully conveyed and reflected.

Some internal disagreement emerged during the coordination process. Choi said there had been debate within the floor caucus over whether to include Seoul in the complaints, but the party ultimately reached consensus to file complaints covering all five regions, including Seoul.

An election complaint is a formal legal procedure requesting the National Election Commission to review whether mismanagement or an unexpected incident at a specific polling station materially affected the election outcome. Filing a complaint is a prerequisite before pursuing further legal remedies, such as a lawsuit to invalidate the election results.

The emergency supreme council meeting was held as a closed, single-agenda session to discuss the party's response to the ballot shortage crisis — the central controversy of the June 3 local elections. Party leader Jang, floor leader Jeong and all supreme council members, including Shin Dong-uk, Kim Min-su, Yang Hyang-ja and Jo Gwang-han, attended.