It was found that the shortage of ballots on election day for the June 3 local elections was not limited to Seoul but was a nationwide situation. According to the National Election Commission's own investigation, there were 50 polling stations nationwide that lacked ballots on election day, and 22 polling stations temporarily suspended voting due to the shortage.

Yoon Jae-su, director of election policy at the National Election Commission, delivers a public apology and on-site briefing regarding the ballot paper shortage at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on the 3rd, the main polling day of the June 3 local elections./Courtesy of Yonhap News

On the 5th, at its Gwacheon government complex, the National Election Commission held a briefing on the ballot shortage and announced what it had identified over the past two days. Yoon Jae-soo, Deputy Minister for Election Policy at the commission, said, "Of 14,288 polling stations nationwide, 67 required additional ballots to be sent due to shortages, and among them, the polling stations that actually ran short of ballots numbered 50, including 14 in Songpa District."

According to materials released by the commission, the 50 polling stations that actually ran short of ballots were 33 in Seoul, three in Busan, four in Daegu, six in Incheon, two in Ulsan, and two in South Gyeongsang Province. In Seoul, Songpa District had the most with 14, followed by seven in Seongbuk District, four in Gangnam District, three in Gwangjin District, two in Seocho District, two in Gangseo District, and one in Dongjak District.

A total of 22 locations temporarily halted and then resumed voting due to the ballot shortage. Nineteen were in Seoul and three were in Incheon. In Seoul, Songpa District had the most with 12, followed by four in Gangnam District, two in Gwangjin District, and one in Seocho District.

Deputy Minister Yoon explained the reason for printing only 50% of the number of registered voters' ballots for election day, saying, "In areas with high early voting rates, there was a tendency for an excessive number of ballots to remain, and considering the subsequent collection, storage, and disposal process, there was an internal view that it was necessary to reduce and print the ballots used at polling stations on election day."

Locations of the 50 polling stations that lacked ballot papers on local election day and the 22 polling stations where voting was suspended due to the shortage./Courtesy of National Election Commission

The commission reflected this internal view as is in the comprehensive management guidelines for the 9th local elections. It allowed reducing and printing ballots with a lower limit of 60% of the number of registered voters for presidential and National Assembly elections, and 50% for local elections, which have lower turnout than other elections.

Deputy Minister Yoon said, "Taking Seoul's Songpa District as an example, the committee resolved the number of ballots to be printed for election day at 50% of the number of registered voters, and 60% for some polling stations," adding, "Since the early voting rate was 23.3%, it can be seen that about 73.3% was printed based on the total number of registered voters."

He added, "Given that the final turnout was about 66%, there was no ballot shortage across Songpa District as a whole, but the number of election day voters varied across the 146 polling stations in Songpa, so it appears some polling stations lacked ballots," and said, "We apologize for the shortcomings in not having established specific procedures for transporting ballots when shortages occurred."

Deputy Minister Yoon said, "We will conduct a comprehensive review of the standards and procedures for calculating the number of ballots to be printed and establish measures to prevent a recurrence."

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