Overview
- Ballot papers ran short during the June 3 local elections, with the National Election Commission saying shortages occurred at 50 polling stations and voting was temporarily halted at 22 sites.
- Residents in Songpa blocked removal of two ballot boxes for more than a day and thousands of protesters then gathered at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium to demand a rerun and prevent officials from leaving the counting site.
- NEC chairman Roh Tae-ak offered his resignation and the commission has set up an outside fact-finding panel while pledging to cooperate with other inquiries into the episode.
- President Lee ordered a joint prosecutors' and police investigation and asked the National Assembly to hold a parliamentary probe as authorities say there is no confirmed evidence of deliberate fraud so far.
- The NEC linked the shortage to a guideline that allowed printing ballots for only about 50% of eligible voters in some areas to limit unused papers, a policy now blamed for creating a risky mismatch between supply and uneven on-site turnout and prompting calls for new ballot-supply rules and audits.