Assembly ballot-shortage probe committee wraps up with final hearing, fails to agree on recount

The National Assembly's special committee on the parliamentary investigation into voter rights violations and election administration reform — established in response to the ballot shortage during the ninth nationwide simultaneous local elections — has in effect concluded its work after holding its second and final hearing.

The committee held a plenary session Wednesday and completed its second hearing, targeting the National Election Commission and other agencies. The session came 49 days after the ballot shortage disrupted the local elections and 34 days after the committee held its inaugural meeting to begin formal operations.

Since its launch on June 18, the committee spent roughly a month scrutinizing the National Election Commission's mismanagement of the elections, lapses in organizational discipline, and systemic operational problems through two rounds of agency briefings and two hearings.

Notably, the committee conducted its first on-site inspection of the handball gymnasium at Olympic Park since a rally had blocked access to the Jamsil vote-counting center. It directly examined 2.47 million ballots stored there and identified gaps in the management of the counting facility, including the operation of its CCTV system.

The committee ultimately failed to reach agreement on whether — and when — to conduct a recount of the 2.47 million ballots currently stored at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, an issue that had been expected to be resolved before the committee concluded its work.

The Democratic Party of Korea and the Rebuilding Korea Party called for an immediate recount, while the People Power Party argued it should be deferred until after a special prosecutor investigation into the National Election Commission.

The committee had also planned to adopt a final report and file complaints against witnesses who had failed to appear or had committed perjury, but those steps fell through as the ruling and opposition parties failed to agree on the timing of a recount and an extension of the committee's mandate.

With the committee's work now concluded, the task of resolving the remaining questions is expected to pass to a special prosecutor probe into the National Election Commission.

The ruling and opposition parties had earlier agreed to pass legislation during the July extraordinary session of the National Assembly to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the ballot shortage and broader election mismanagement during the ninth local elections.

However, the two sides have yet to find common ground on the scope and targets of the investigation.