On the afternoon of the 3rd, the day of voting for the 9th nationwide local elections, voting was suspended at some polling stations in Songpa, Gangnam, and Gwangjin districts in Seoul because of a shortage of ballot papers. Some voters who came to the polling stations to vote waited a long time under the blazing sun or turned away. Voters met on-site said they "never imagined that people would be unable to vote in Korea because of a shortage of ballot papers."
At about 4:30 p.m. on the day the local elections were held, word spread that voting had been halted in the Jamsil area of Songpa District in Seoul due to a shortage of ballot papers. After the People Power Party's Seoul chapter checked, it found that shortages had occurred at Munjeong 1-dong No. 4 polling station, Munjeong 2-dong No. 2 polling station, Jamsil 2-dong No. 6 polling station, Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station, Jamsil 4-dong No. 5 polling station, Garak 2-dong No. 3 and No. 7 polling stations, Wirye-dong No. 5 polling station, Cheongdam-dong No. 4 polling station in Gangnam District, Gaepo 2-dong No. 2 polling station, Guui 3-dong No. 6 polling station in Gwangjin District, and Noryangjin 1-dong No. 7 polling station in Dongjak District.
The People Power Party criticized the shortage in areas with many conservative-leaning supporters, saying, "Voters' suffrage was violated," and calling it a "record-level poorly run election."
Voters met on-site also said they were baffled. A person identified as A, met at the Jamsil 2-dong No. 6 polling station on the afternoon of the same day, said, "They handed out number slips at 6 p.m., then said only 50 ballot papers had arrived, so only 50 more people could vote, and told others to wait," adding, "Those who came to vote with children couldn't wait and just left." A said, "I have no idea what the election commission was thinking," shaking their head.
A person identified as B, who lives in a nearby apartment, also said, "I waited to vote from 4 p.m., then briefly stepped away at 6 p.m. because of my children's academy pickup," adding, "When I returned to the polling station around 6:50 p.m., an election commission staffer told me voting was over and to go. I waited two hours and couldn't vote, and no one is taking responsibility."
Similar situations unfolded at several polling stations besides the Jamsil 2-dong No. 6 polling station. There was even the absurd scene of handing out handwritten waiting number slips to separate those who arrived after 6 p.m. from those who had been waiting earlier. A person identified as C, who lives in Jamsil, said, "I never imagined that in Korea people would be unable to vote because of a lack of paper."
The National Election Commission plans to issue a public apology for the shortage of ballot papers.