Jang Dong-hyeok of the People Power Party on the 6th called for an immediate parliamentary inquiry and a special prosecutor investigation over the "ballot paper shortage incident" that occurred on the June 3 local election main voting day.
At about 10 a.m. that day, Jang held an emergency supreme council meeting at the National Assembly and said, "The ballot paper shortage incident is a grave act of destroying liberal democracy that deprived the people of their suffrage," adding, "We must start an immediate parliamentary inquiry and swiftly appoint a special prosecutor to conduct a thorough investigation."
Jang went on to say, "It is impossible even to count the number of voters whose voting rights were infringed, and as voting continued even after the release of exit polls, the principle of free elections collapsed," adding, "Ballot papers that should have been transported under control were carried in shopping bags."
Jang also criticized the response of the election commission to this incident.
Jang said, "At first, the commission said there were 14 places to which they sent additional ballot papers due to shortages, but it ultimately confessed that 50 polling stations lacked ballot papers," adding, "The number of places that received additional ballot papers comes to 67."
He added, "This is not something that can end with Roh Tae-ak, the chair of the National Election Commission, stepping down," and said, "We must hold all members of the National Election Commission, as well as each regional election commission chair and commissioners, accountable to the end."
Jang also proposed revising the election law and forming a pan-national body to reform the election commission.
He said, "The commission has exceeded the level at which reform can be entrusted to its own hands," adding, "We must begin discussions on commission reform and election law revisions as soon as possible."
He then said, "I propose forming a 'pan-national election commission reform body' in which the ruling and opposition parties, experts, and the public all participate to discuss reform plans for the National Election Commission."
Jang also said, "If Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party of Korea continue to turn a deaf ear to public anger and hold out, it will bring about the end of the administration."
Regarding the protest at the Jamsil counting center that day, Jang said, "There is only one thing they seek to protect: the Republic of Korea's liberal democracy," adding, "How can we call their democratic resistance a disturbance?"
He added, "We must not turn our backs on them, and we will fight alongside the young people, staking our lives."