The Incheon Metropolitan City Election Commission belatedly explained the circumstances and apologized for the shortage of ballot papers in the Incheon area during the June 3 local elections, drawing a wave of criticism.
On the 3rd in the Incheon area, six polling stations, including Polling Station No. 1 in Songdo 5-dong, Yeonsu District, and Polling Station No. 6 in Dongchun 1-dong, experienced a shortage of ballot papers.
However, even as voter complaints mounted that day, the Incheon Election Commission answered reporters' related questions by saying, "The situation has not been identified." After the shortage of ballot papers became known through the media, it also claimed, "There seem to have been voters who thought they could go to another polling station as during early voting," and "There was no shortage of ballot papers."
Accordingly, when National Election Commission Secretary-General Hur Chul-hoon issued a public apology over the ballot paper shortage, the commission even excluded Incheon from the areas where the situation occurred.
However, around 2 p.m. on the 4th, the Incheon Election Commission belatedly reversed its stance and acknowledged that a ballot paper shortage had occurred.
The Incheon Election Commission said, "The number of ballot papers printed for the Yeonsu District area was calculated based on 50% of the number of voters, taking into account the expected early voting rate and recent election turnout," adding, "The number of voters on election day at the relevant polling stations increased sharply compared with others."
After the commission belatedly released an official position and apology on the incident, criticism poured in on Yeonsu District online communities, with posts such as "Why are you informing us so late?" and "Disband the election commission."
Meanwhile, no investigation is underway into the ballot paper shortage in the Incheon area.
Earlier, police assigned a complaint over the ballot paper shortage in Seoul to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Major Crime Investigation Unit and are conducting an investigation.
An official at the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said, "No related complaint has been filed in Incheon," adding, "We are not currently conducting an investigation in connection with the Incheon ballot paper shortage."