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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

12 voters in Jamsil received waiting numbers but did not vote; Election Commission admits infringement of voting rights

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Twelve voters in Seoul's Jamsil 7-dong polling station were unable to cast their ballots due to a shortage of voting papers, a situation the election commission acknowledges as a violation of their right to vote.
  • The incident occurred during the June 3rd local elections when the polling station ran out of papers, leading to a temporary extension of voting hours and the issuance of waiting numbers.
  • The election commission is investigating 26 polling stations where voting was interrupted, with over 130 election appeals filed nationwide, a significant increase from previous elections.

Twelve voters in Seoul's Jamsil 7-dong polling station ultimately did not vote after being unable to obtain ballots, a situation acknowledged by the Central Election Commission as a violation of their right to participate.

Cho Hyun-wook, head of the Central Election Commission's fact-finding committee on the ballot shortage, stated that these 12 individuals arrived at the polling station but were unable to vote because the ballots had run out. He confirmed their right to vote was infringed upon.

The incident unfolded on June 3rd when the Jamsil 7-dong polling station, specifically the second station in the area, determined it had a ballot shortage around 4:46 PM. To ensure all voters arriving by the 6 PM deadline could cast their ballots, the station issued waiting numbers to 175 voters. Despite this measure, 17 waiting numbers were not returned by the deadline. The election commission extended voting hours until 10 PM to accommodate those with waiting numbers, but 12 individuals still did not vote.

Twelve people who came to vote could not, and ended up not voting.

— Cho Hyun-wookThe head of the election commission's fact-finding committee confirmed the number of voters disenfranchised due to ballot shortages.

Cho explained that the investigation is focusing on 26 polling stations where voting was interrupted, out of 140 that requested additional ballots. His committee has been analyzing voting records, documenting the situation hour by hour. The number of election appeals filed nationwide has also surged, with 96 cases reported to the Central Election Commission and 34 to provincial election commissions as of June 16th, totaling at least 130 appeals. This marks a significant increase compared to the 45 appeals in the 2022 local elections and 11 in the 2018 elections.

In response to the ballot shortage and other issues impacting voter rights, the People Power Party has taken charge of a special parliamentary committee to investigate the matter and reform election management. Five-term lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun is slated to chair the committee, with Yoon Kun-young of the Democratic Party and Seo Bum-soo of the People Power Party serving as floor leaders. The National Assembly is expected to vote on the special investigation plan on June 18th.

Yes.

— Cho Hyun-wookResponding to a question about whether the 12 voters had their right to vote violated.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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