The court granted a request to preserve evidence filed by Reform Party Supreme Council member Kim Jeong-cheol, who ran for Seoul mayor in the 9th nationwide local elections (June 3 local elections), in connection with the ballot shortage incident.
According to legal sources on the 9th, Seoul Eastern District Court Civil Division Single-Judge Unit 51 Director General Judge Kim Ji-yeon partially accepted Kim's request to preserve evidence regarding ballot storage boxes and related items. The preservation targets are four items, including ballot storage boxes and closed-circuit (CC) TV that recorded the polling place. The request to preserve evidence for the main ballots and ballot boxes was dismissed.
The court decided to verify the condition of the ballot storage box found at Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling place bearing notations such as "1,900 printed sheets," along with all its packaging materials, seal them, and keep them preserved inside the courthouse.
To that end, a verification procedure will be conducted at 3 p.m. on the 10th inside and outside the senior center at Useong Apartment, where Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling place had been set up. A court official said, "Because the ballot shortage is the core issue, this is a procedure to check the notation indicating how many sheets are inside the ballot storage box."
The court also ordered the submission of the storage media containing CCTV footage that recorded the storage scenes of the polling place and the ballot boxes.
At Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling place, ballots were in short supply on the main voting day of the June 3 local elections, and voting was extended until 10 p.m. As crowds protesting the ballot shortage gathered, the ballot boxes were moved to the Songpa-gu counting center only on the morning of the 5th. Protests have continued through the day at the counting venue, Olympic Park Handball Stadium.
Through social media (SNS), Kim conveyed the court's acceptance and said, "We will answer the suspicions honestly through objective verification and securing of evidence." Kim added, "Until the facts are confirmed, let us all remain calm so that the pure anger of the people is not exploited politically," and said, "The way to set democracy right is not to fuel anger, but to reveal the facts."