PRESIDENT Lee Jae-myung has called for a thorough probe into a ballot shortage that impacted recent local elections, adding that the prosecution and police would be involved in the investigation.
“As one citizen and as the president responsible for the government, I express deep regret,” Lee said in an X post yesterday.
Local elections in the country last week were hit by a ballot shortage that prevented some eligible voters from casting their ballots.
The head of the National Election Commission (NEC), an independent body that ran the voting, resigned after the incident, but thousands of people have been protesting outside a ballot counting site in Seoul to demand a re-run of local elections.
Lee said in his post that the incident was “difficult to comprehend” and that the subsequent response and explanations by the NEC to the public were insufficient.
He said that he had asked parliament to conduct a fact-finding probe and establish measures to prevent such an incident from happening again.
He said he had also asked to discuss reform plans for the NEC.
Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since Lee took office following conservative Yoon Suk-yeol’s ouster over his brief martial law declaration in late 2024.
Lee’s ruling liberal Democratic Party won most races in the elections for mayors, local government officials and assembly members, but failed to flip the critical Seoul mayoral seat.
NEC chairperson Rho Tae-ak resigned on Friday after public outrage over ballot paper shortages that the commission said affected 50 polling stations nationwide, including more than 30 in the capital.
On Saturday evening in Seoul, about 10,000 people gathered at the SK Olympic Handball Stadium, where ballots from the elections had been counted, news agency Yonhap reported, citing an unofficial police estimate.
By 2am yesterday, at least 1,000 protesters, many in their 20s and 30s, remained at the site, waving large national flags and chanting “Re-election, re-election.”
Young volunteers handed out water, coffee and chocolates. Some demonstrators were accompanied by their pets; others sat on picnic mats, holding national flags and keeping watch through the night.
“Regardless of political affiliation, not being able to vote is an infringement on our rights in a free democracy,” Seo Jin-hee, 31, said, looking visibly emotional.
The NEC said ballot papers were printed for only 50% of eligible voters because there were large numbers of unused ballots in recent elections due to increased early voting.
Some voters are believed to have left without casting their ballots.
The commission’s explanation “simply defies common sense”, said another demonstrator, Park Soun-wok, 29.
“It does not matter whether my preferred candidate wins or not. Regardless of all that, I believe this election must be rerun,” he said.
Wednesday’s election problems had triggered a 35-hour blockade of a polling station in Seoul, with protesters preventing authorities from removing two ballot boxes for counting. — Reuters/AFP
