People Power Party official to seek nullification of Seoul mayoral election over ballot shortage

A high-ranking official within South Korea's ruling People Power Party has declared his intention to file an election appeal, aiming to have the recent Seoul mayoral election declared void. This move stems from a significant shortage of ballots that affected numerous polling stations across the capital.

Lee Ho-sun, the chairman of the party's party affairs audit committee, announced on his blog that he would file an appeal to nullify the election held on June 3rd. The appeal must be filed within two weeks of the election date, and Lee plans to recruit co-plaintiffs among Seoul citizens before submitting the appeal on the 11th.

The shortage of ballots was a widespread issue during the June 3rd local elections and by-elections for the National Assembly. Out of 14,288 polling stations nationwide, 50 experienced ballot shortages, with 33 of these concentrated in Seoul. Songpa District alone reported 14 polling stations facing this problem.

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The Seoul mayoral election is nullified.

Lee argues that the ballot shortage represents a "grave administrative flaw" where the election commission failed to meet its obligation to supply ballots based on predictable demand. He contends that this infringement on the voting rights of numerous citizens not only had the potential to influence the election's outcome but also fundamentally damaged public trust in the election's fairness and integrity, irrespective of the precise vote margins.

Lee further asserted that the election commission should not dismiss the issue by claiming the impact on the results cannot be proven. He believes that such a fundamental breach of the election's core principles of freedom and fairness warrants a declaration of nullity. He also indicated that if the appeal is dismissed or rejected, he would file a request for a constitutional review, arguing that a narrow interpretation of election law could infringe upon the essential nature of the right to vote and undermine constitutional values.

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The infringement not only had the potential to influence the election's outcome but also fundamentally damaged public trust in the election's fairness and integrity, irrespective of the precise vote margins.