People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye said on the 19th that the "50% reduced printing guideline," cited as the cause of the ballot shortage during the 9th nationwide local elections (the June 3 local elections), had already been reported to former National Election Commission Chairperson Roh Tae-ak six months before the vote.

Earlier, the National Election Commission's "committee to investigate the ballot shortage" announced that the former Chairperson was found not to have been briefed on the guideline in advance. Lawmaker Kim refuted this based on materials submitted by the National Election Commission.

Roh Tae-ak, chair of the National Election Commission, leaves the briefing room after delivering a public apology over the ballot paper shortage at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on the 5th in the afternoon. /Courtesy of News1

According to the materials Kim received from the National Election Commission, the revised manual allowing the ballot print run for local elections to be cut to 50% of the number of voters was included in the "review of revisions to the Public Official Election Management Rules, etc." reported at the 15th National Election Commission meeting held on Nov. 24 last year.

Former Chairperson Roh and Standing Commissioner Wi Cheol-hwan were said to have attended the meeting. Based on this, Lawmaker Kim argued that the "50% reduced printing guideline" can be seen as having been reported to former Chairperson Roh before December last year, when the comprehensive management guideline and the procedural affairs manual were revised.

However, the National Election Commission explained that the content accounted for only part of the 42-page briefing document and was neither submitted as a separate agenda item nor followed by additional discussion.

In December last year, the National Election Commission lowered the minimum ballot printing standard from 60% to 50% of the number of voters by revising the "9th local election comprehensive management guideline" and the "public official election procedural affairs manual." Committee Chairperson Cho Hyun-uk said at a press briefing on the 17th, "The Chairperson of the National Election Commission replied that there had been no prior briefing before the guideline's implementation regarding the reduction of the number of ballots printed on election day."

※ This article has been translated by AI. Share your feedback here.