A public official from Seoul's Songpa District who went to provide on-site support over the shortage of ballot papers at some polling stations in the 9th nationwide local elections held simultaneously (the June 3 local elections) criticized the National Election Commission, saying, "There is no way we can run the election."
On the 4th, a post that public official A from Songpa District uploaded the previous day on the "Public Officials' Union Participation Forum" board spread on social media (SNS). A said, "I won't say much," adding, "Our Songpa District employees can no longer take part in election duties." A then criticized, "How could it be that not a single staff member from the Songpa District election commission could come, allowing such a situation to occur," and said, "We can't work any longer with a group that falls short."
A said, "Have the election affairs handled solely by the election commission," and added, "Stop using local government public officials as cannon fodder."
At 12 polling stations in the Jamsil area of Songpa District and elsewhere, ballot papers ran short, leading some voters to give up voting. At the Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station, the closing time for voting was extended from 6 p.m. the previous day to 10 p.m.
As residents and demonstrators crowded in front of the Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station, even by the afternoon that day, two ballot boxes had not been moved to the counting center. The election commission estimated that these ballot boxes contained about 2,000 votes.
Kim Beom-jin, Secretary-General of the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission, visited the site that morning and tried to persuade the demonstrators to allow the ballot boxes to be moved, but only faced fierce resistance from participants.