Amid an unprecedented "ballot shortage incident," protesters claiming election fraud have moved from a Jamsil polling station to blockade the entrance of a vote-counting site, demanding a re-election.
As of 4 p.m. Thursday, about 300 citizens and conservative-leaning YouTubers (an unofficial police estimate) claiming election fraud were blocking the entrance of the vote-counting site at the Olympic Park handball stadium.
Even after the completion of the count was announced, the protesters chanted slogans such as "re-election" and "void the vote," saying they could not accept the results.
As the protest grew more heated, passage for election workers and handball stadium staff was effectively blocked.
Staff attempted to leave the stadium but were blocked by protesters and returned inside the building. Police discouraged a staff member trying to leave the stadium, saying, "It looks difficult to go out now" and "We can't handle this."
The protesters were gathering people through YouTube broadcasts and online chat rooms related to election fraud, where guidance to assemble at Olympic Park was shared.
Jeon Han-gil, a YouTuber and former Korean history instructor claiming election fraud, held a loudspeaker and shouted, "Because this local election is fraudulent, all elections nationwide are void."
Police maintained security around the stadium even after the count ended. On-site officials were reviewing measures such as sending National Election Commission staff home first before separately removing materials related to the count.
Earlier, the Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station had its closing time extended due to a ballot shortage on the day of the main vote for the June 3 local elections. Afterward, protesters claiming election fraud blockaded the polling station, saying they would block the removal of the ballot boxes, and the two ballot boxes containing some 2,000 votes were not transported to the counting site for about 35 hours.
Police deployed about 1,000 officers from 18 mobile units Thursday morning to disperse the protesters and secure the ballot boxes. The count was then completed around 3:20 p.m. Thursday.
