The head of South Korea’s election commission resigned hours after riot police cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station following a near two-day blockade sparked by a ballot shortage during local elections.
Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since President Lee Jae-myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration.
Lee’s ruling Democratic Party swept most races but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat.
Fourteen polling stations in Seoul ran short of ballot papers, and the National Election Commission (NEC) apologised, blaming a failure to anticipate turnout.
The agency’s chairperson, Rho Tae-ak, resigned over the furore yesterday, saying there is “no excuse for the occurrence of an unacceptable incident” that “infringed upon the people’s precious right to vote”.
He did not, however, mention the possibility of a re-election.
Some polling stations stayed open until 10pm on Wednesday to accommodate voters, but the move did little to quell criticism of the commission’s handling of the election.
Protesters holding signs that read “Stop the vote count” and “Invalidate the election” blocked authorities in Seoul’s Jamsil 7-dong district from removing two ballot boxes.
A gathering of several dozen people on election night swelled to more than 1,000 protesters by Thursday, Yonhap reported.
Polling station staff were forced to remain inside until yesterday morning, according to KBS.
The boxes, containing about 2,000 ballots, were secured and transported to a counting centre after the riot police intervened yesterday morning, an official from the Korean National Police Agency said.
Livestream footage of the morning incident showed police physically removing demonstrators blocking entrances to the polling station, with some protesters shouting and resisting.
Heated exchanges followed, with one man shouting, “Is this really a country governed by the rule of law?” as officers repeatedly ordered demonstrators to clear the way.
President Lee on Thursday ordered an investigation into the ballot shortage, condemning “a flaw that is difficult to accept”.
People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyeok, whose party suffered a heavy local election defeat after Yoon’s martial law declaration, said the election should be rerun.
The election commission is a constitutional body with limited external oversight, and problems related to “internal discipline, oversight and investigations have long existed in a kind of blind spot”, political commentator Park Sang-byung said.
“Worse, it has effectively handed ammunition to election-fraud conspiracy theorists, who will likely exploit the controversy for months,” Park added. — AFP
