In Songpa District, where voting was disrupted at multiple polling places during the June 3 local elections because ballot papers ran short, civil servants assigned to election support pleaded with the National Election Commission to come up with measures. But no reply came from the commission, and some civil servants went to the commission in person.
The Korean Government Employees' Union (KGEU) on the 5th released screenshots of a KakaoTalk group chat that included about 150 civil servants from Songpa's neighborhood community centers who worked as poll clerks and officials from the National Election Commission.
At 2:17 p.m., the clerk of Jamsil 2-dong said, "For each polling place, at what remaining percentage of (ballots) do you let us know whether we can receive additional supplies?" and added, "For now, we are only telling them that the commission is monitoring, and we can't give a firm answer."
A commission official replied, "Taking early voting rates into account, we are distributing additional ballots based on a 60% turnout threshold."
At 2:25 p.m., the secretary of Jamsil 4-dong said, "Polling place 7 has 35 sheets left and there is a long line." At 2:37 p.m., the clerk of Garak 2-dong asked, "Is it possible to pick up additional ballots for polling places 3 and 7?"
After 4 p.m., reports came in from one polling place after another that voting had been suspended. At 4:41 p.m., "Jamsil 7-dong polling place 2 voting suspended," at 4:48 p.m., "Garak 2-dong polling place 3 suspended," and at 4:50 p.m., "Jamsil 4-dong polling places 5, 6, and 7 suspended," messages were posted.
There were also reports that voters, alleging election fraud, were protesting strongly. Songpa District civil servants said, "We are requesting police support; can we call them? Conditions on the ground are extremely difficult."
Questions such as "Residents are protesting and it's chaos. What are you going to do?" and "We ask for a reply from the commission. In dongs where voting has been suspended, can we hand out waiting tickets to voters and allow them to vote after 6 p.m. if ballots are supplied?" were posted, but the commission official did not respond. The clerk of Munjeong 1-dong also wrote, "I will go to the commission."
In the end, at Jamsil 7-dong polling place No. 2, ballots were replenished belatedly and voting continued until 10 p.m. In the meantime, YouTubers and citizens alleging election fraud crowded in and blockaded the polling place. The ballot box could be taken out only on the morning of this day, 35 hours after the close of voting, after police deployed about 1,000 officers to disperse the demonstrators.
In a statement released the same day, the KGEU said, "At chaotic scenes caused by the commission's incompetence, numerous civil servants had to bear the brunt of voters' fierce protests, serving as a shield," and demanded, "Discipline the responsible officials immediately."
It continued, "The commission bears ultimate responsibility for election management," and added, "The commission, which has forcibly mobilized local government civil servants for every election and imposed low pay and high-intensity labor, is now failing to manage even the basic supply of ballot papers and is driving frontline civil servants into the center of election fraud suspicions."