Ahead of the June 3 local elections, 181 employees of the election commission were confirmed to be on leave. This means 6% of the National Election Commission's authorized staff (3,034) stepped away from work ahead of a nationwide vote.

People Power Party Suseong District councilors Kim Kyung-min and Park Sae-rom, elected in the June 3 local elections, join citizens in holding a democracy funeral in front of the Daegu Metropolitan City Election Commission on the afternoon of the 8th, calling for a fact-finding investigation into mismanagement of the election including a ballot shortage, a thorough probe and punishment of commission officials responsible, and by-elections./Courtesy of News1

According to data People Power Party lawmaker Kim Seung-su received from the National Election Commission on the 9th, as of late May, just before the local elections, there were 181 employees on leave. That is an increase from the 176 reported as of early April. The number of National Election Commission employees on leave steadily rose ahead of the vote, from 148 at the end of December last year.

The number of National Election Commission employees on leave has increased with each nationwide election. The National Election Commission notified staff ahead of these local elections to "refrain from unnecessary leave," but it had no effect.

During the 2022 local elections, the number on leave reached 226. At that time, 7.6% of the commission's authorized staff were on leave. After the election ended, the number on leave decreased, falling to 161 in December 2022. In 2023, when there were no nationwide elections, the number of National Election Commission employees on leave stayed around 130 to 150. After that, the number rose again ahead of the 2024 National Assembly elections, and it was the same for the 2025 presidential election.

With this election seeing an unprecedented shortage of ballot papers, some said the incident laid bare the National Election Commission's organizational culture. Lawmaker Kim Seung-su said, "The complacent organizational culture of the National Election Commission led to a major disaster that even stripped voters of their suffrage," adding, "Reform of the commission at the level of dismantlement is necessary."

In the National Assembly, a bill has even been previewed to restrict election commission employees from taking leave during nationwide elections. Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon said, "I will introduce a bill to restrict indiscriminate use of vacation and leave by National Election Commission employees during nationwide elections."

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