In the Seoul mayoral election, a "election disaster" occurred in which voting was halted due to a shortage of ballots and ballot boxes could not be taken out until the day after the vote. As the election commission responsible for this situation failed to disclose the facts for more than 24 hours, public anger is growing. The core of the problem appears to be the commission's "50% ballot printing guideline" and "failure to distribute ballots by polling place."

Members of conservative groups gather in front of the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi on the 4th to condemn the shortage of ballots during the 9th nationwide local elections./Courtesy of News1

◇National Election Commission lowered the minimum ballot printing from 60% to 50%

District, city, and county election commissions set the standards for printing ballots. Under the National Election Commission are the city and provincial commissions, and under them are the district, city, and county commissions. Taking Songpa District in Seoul as an example, the structure is National Election Commission–Seoul City Election Commission–Songpa District Election Commission.

An election commission official said, "District, city, and county commissions are divided into a secretariat and a commission. The secretariat submits the ballot printing standard as an agenda item to the commission, and the commission votes on it."

While the lowest-level district, city, and county commissions decide how many ballots to print by region, the National Election Commission issues the guidelines. Until just before this local election, the National Election Commission instructed that ballots be printed up to 60% of registered voters for local elections. But it was confirmed that after the 2022 local elections, citing the large volume of discarded ballots, it lowered the minimum to 50%.

An official at the Seoul City Election Commission said, "Ahead of this election, the National Election Commission lowered the minimum to 50% of registered voters, and within that, the district, city, and county commissions are to decide by considering local conditions and past turnout," adding, "It appears the Songpa District Election Commission decided on the minimum 50%."

In fact, in addition to Songpa, the Incheon City Election Commission also printed only 50% of registered voters' worth of ballots and experienced shortages at several polling places.

On the morning of the 4th, at Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where the transfer of ballot boxes for the 9th nationwide local elections and National Assembly by-elections is delayed, protesters and some residents chant for the dissolution of the election commission./Courtesy of News1

Here, "50%" excludes early voting. For early voting, once an ID is verified, the ballot is issued directly from a machine, so ballots are not printed in advance. An election commission official said, "The 50% of registered voters refers to election day voting," adding, "The early voting rate in Songpa was 23%, and since 50% of registered voters' worth of ballots were prepared for election day, up to 73% of voters could have voted."

◇Only in Songpa, 42,000 ballots were left over

In this local election, turnout in Songpa District was 65.82%. As the commission explained, there should have been a difference of about 7 to 8 percentage points, and that many ballots should have been left over.

Let's calculate specifically. In this election, Songpa had 565,368 registered voters. Of these, 132,207 voted through early or home voting. The early voting rate was 23.38%. A total of 239,910 participated on election day, for an election day voting rate of 42.43%. Since 50% of registered voters was the standard, the number of ballots Songpa printed for election day was 282,684. Subtracting those who voted on election day leaves 42,774 ballots.

But the reality on the ground was different. Polling places across Songpa descended into chaos due to ballot shortages. In Songpa alone, 12 polling places experienced delays or suspensions because of a lack of ballots. Even a day later, about 2,000 ballots remained in boxes that could not be opened.

Within the commission and political circles, some pointed to possible mistakes in the distribution process rather than the total number of ballots. An election commission official said, "Preparing ballots equivalent to 50% of registered voters refers to all of Songpa, and within that, the Songpa District Election Commission allocates ballots by polling place. At that time, there can be disparities, with some neighborhoods getting more and others less."

On the afternoon of the 3rd, the main voting day of the 6-3 local elections, residents wait at Jamsil 2-dong No. 6 polling station in Songpa-gu, Seoul due to a shortage of ballots./Courtesy of Yonhap

A political source familiar with the commission's work said, "If any polling places lacked ballots, the Songpa District Election Commission should have identified and handled it in advance, but it appears that in Songpa the day before, no such response was made."

In fact, late on the night of the 3rd, a resident met at Jamsil Raemian I-Park, where Jamsil 4-dong Polling Place No. 5 was set up, a person surnamed Yoon (68, male), said, "Two polling places were set up in this apartment complex. I heard one lacked ballots and the other had some left," adding, "I heard that the place short on ballots requested the surplus from the other but was refused."

◇In Songpa, last year's presidential turnout topped 80%… the shortage was foreseeable

Some also argue that even based on election day voting, printing only 50% of registered voters' worth of ballots was a problem. In Songpa's case, turnout topped 80% in last year's presidential election. It is one of the areas where enthusiasm for voting is high, exceeding the overall Seoul average of 77.9%. In this election, final turnout reached 65.82%.

Another commission official said, "The 50% is merely a minimum set by the National Election Commission; printing more is allowed. It is hard to understand why the Songpa District Election Commission, where turnout is high, decided on 50%." Some other district election commissions in Seoul reportedly printed ballots based on 60% and had no particular problems. Mapo and Gangbuk are representative.

Hur Chul-hoon, Secretary General of the National Election Commission, offers a public apology over the ballot shortage at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi on the 3rd, the main voting day of the 6-3 local elections./Courtesy of Yonhap

This situation also conflicts with the National Election Commission's past explanation that it printed ballots at around 70% of registered voters. In a 2020 post titled "Election day ballot drafting, sending, and storage process," the National Election Commission said, "We typically decide the print run at 70% of registered voters."

A political source said, "Up until the 2010s, the print run was set at 80% of registered voters, but as they kept reducing ballot printing, trouble ensued," adding, "It seems the commission prioritized expense reduction over fair election management, putting the cart before the horse."

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