As confusion grew over a ballot shortage at some polling stations during the June 3 local elections, calls have emerged to halt vote counting and hold a re-election. A past case in Germany, where elections were nullified due to ballot shortages and inadequate election management, is drawing renewed attention.
According to the National Election Commission (NEC) on Tuesday, ballots ran out at polling stations in parts of Seoul including Songpa, Gangnam, Gwangjin and Dongjak districts, causing voting to be temporarily suspended. Some affected polling stations extended their closing time by four hours, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. During the process, physical clashes broke out between residents and police over ballot boxes, among other disruptions.
NEC Secretary General Heo Cheol-hoon issued a public apology over the ballot shortage. "I deeply apologize and take full responsibility for inconveniencing citizens who came to polling stations to exercise their precious sovereignty and for damaging public trust in fair election management," Heo said, bowing his head.
As the confusion mounted, calls were made to immediately halt the local election vote count and hold a re-election. People Power Party (PPP) Floor Leader Song Eon-seok said, "An unprecedented infringement of voting rights occurred in the heart of Seoul, where citizens could not exercise their sovereignty due to a shortage of ballots." He added, "Pursuant to Article 196 of the Public Official Election Act, we formally demand that the National Election Commission immediately halt the vote count for the Seoul election and postpone the election." Jang Dong-hyuk, PPP standing election campaign committee chairman, also urged a re-election, saying, "The Seoul election has already been tainted. A tainted election is invalid."
In light of this situation, a similar case overseas is drawing renewed attention. In September 2021, Berlin held federal and local elections along with a referendum simultaneously, requiring voters to mark six items across five ballot papers. However, due to inadequate preparation by the Berlin state election commission, ballots ran short, leaving voters unable to cast their votes, while some received ballots from other districts that rendered their votes invalid. At some polling stations, exit poll results were even released before voting had ended.
Opposition parties contested the election results, and two years later, in December 2023, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that "errors occurred in the preparation and execution of the election," ordering re-elections in 455 of the 2,256 voting districts. As a result, the mayor changed and the number of parliamentary seats held by each party shifted. The head of Berlin's state election authority, equivalent to the chairman of a metropolitan or provincial election commission in Korea, resigned.
The German Federal Constitutional Court particularly pointed out that the temporary suspension of operations at some polling stations violated the "principle of public election." The principle of public election holds that all stages of an election must be transparent enough for ordinary citizens to readily understand, and that any doubts raised about the electoral process must be subject to review.
