The second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, was allocated only 1,900 election-day ballots, it has been found. The figure amounts to just 49.3% of the station's 3,856 registered voters.
On Thursday, after the ballot box had been removed from the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, a ballot box presumed to have been sent by the Songpa-gu Election Commission was discovered inside. The exterior of the box was marked "Number of ballots printed: 1,900" and "Box 1 of 1." No additional boxes were found.
The ballots initially prepared thus fell short of half the registered voters. The National Election Commission set the minimum printing ratio for election-day ballots at 50% starting with this local election, but this polling station was allocated a quantity that fell short of even that standard.
At this polling station, all prepared ballots were used up before election-day voting ended. Some voters were turned away without casting their ballots. The election commission extended the voting deadline by four hours, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., for voters who had received voter roll verification slips.
However, some voters raised objections to the procedure and demanded a re-election, and protesters alleging electoral fraud joined in, escalating into what became known as a three-day "blockade incident."
Ahead of this local election, the National Election Commission lowered the minimum printing ratio for election-day ballots to 50% from the previous 60% to 70% of registered voters. The measure reflected the high early voting rate and the lower interest in local elections compared with presidential and general elections.
An election commission official explained that all used and unused ballots must be stored after an election ends, creating a burden of space shortage, and that such practical circumstances were also reflected in the reduction in printing volume.
Signs of poor management also emerged. After the ballot box was removed, the site was left with not only the ballot box but also numerous unused voting stamps and memos presumed to contain serial numbers of additionally supplied ballots.
In particular, many voter roll verification slips bearing voters' names and genders were also found. This polling station had earlier issued waiting tickets to voters who had not voted by 6 p.m. and extended voting until 10 p.m., but the slips prepared during the identity verification process were not collected and remained at the site.
Protesters pointed out that this meant personal information was not protected and that it even became possible to infer whether individuals had voted.
