Election Commission Apologizes for Ballot Shortage Incident

The Secretary-General of the National Election Commission (NEC) announced on June 3rd, regarding the situation where some polling stations ran out of ballots on the local election's main voting day, causing voters to be unable to cast their ballots or to wait, "We apologize once again for causing disappointment due to inadequate preparation and response." NEC Secretary-General Heo Cheol-hoon stated in a public apology statement, "We deeply apologize and acknowledge our responsibility for inconveniencing the public who visited polling stations to exercise their precious right to vote, and for undermining public trust in fair election management."

The NEC stated that it has taken measures to immediately transport additional ballots to polling stations experiencing shortages and to allow waiting voters to cast their ballots even after the closing time. On this day, ballots were insufficient at polling stations such as the 6th polling station in Jamsil 2-dong, Songpa-gu, leading to voter queues. The People Power Party identified ballot shortage incidents in a total of 17 locations across Seoul, including Gwangjin-gu, Dongjak-gu, Seocho-gu, and Gangnam-gu.

The NEC pledged to accurately identify the causes and issues of the ballot shortages in some polling stations immediately after the vote count concludes and to establish measures to prevent recurrence.