NEC Dismisses People Power Party's Appeal on Seoul Mayoral Election; Cites No Impact on Results

South Korea's National Election Commission (NEC) has dismissed all appeals filed by the People Power Party concerning the June 3 local elections, including issues related to ballot shortages at some polling stations. The NEC announced on August 12 that it had decided to dismiss 112 out of 261 appeals related to election validity and winning status for various races, including provincial governors, superintendents of education, and proportional metropolitan council members. Regarding the appeal for the Seoul mayoral election, the NEC acknowledged that a shortage of ballots at some polling stations constituted a violation of election regulations. However, the commission concluded that this violation did not influence the overall election outcome. Appeals filed by the People Power Party for other key races, such as the Gyeonggi provincial governor, Incheon mayor, Busan mayor, and Ulsan mayor, were also dismissed. Similar decisions were made for appeals concerning provincial council proportional representation seats in these regions. Previously, the NEC had also dismissed or rejected appeals submitted by former Seoul Superintendent of Education candidate Cho Jun-hyuk, former Incheon Superintendent of Education candidate Lee Dae-hyung, and ordinary citizens regarding the Seoul mayoral election and other races. The election appeal process allows individuals to challenge election management issues by filing an appeal with the NEC. The NEC's Appeals Review Committee must make a decision within 60 days of receiving an appeal. If an appellant is dissatisfied with the NEC's decision, they have 10 days to file a lawsuit in court.