The National Election Commission apologized for the ballot shortage during the 9th nationwide local elections held simultaneously (the June 3 local elections), saying it "failed to allocate ballots by polling place." The National Election Commission found that while about 42,000 ballots remained across all of Songpa District in Seoul, ballots were not properly distributed to some polling places, leading to a suspension of voting and preventing some voters from casting ballots.
Acting National Election Commission Chair Wi Cheol-hwan issued a statement on the 11th titled "A message to the people," saying, "I offer a heartfelt apology over the ballot shortage that infringed on the people's suffrage." Wi has been serving as acting chair of the National Election Commission since the 8th, following the Supreme Court's notification rescinding the designation of former chair Roh Tae-ak.
Regarding the Songpa case, Wi explained, "The 50% printing ratio for election day ballots is a concept excluding the 23.3% early voting rate, so the overall ballot printing ratio is 73.3%."
Songpa District had 565,368 eligible voters and an overall turnout of 65.8%, which is why about 42,000 ballots remained on a districtwide basis. On this, Wi said, "It was a painful mistake that we failed to allocate ballots by each of the 146 polling places in Songpa."
According to the "Report on the status and countermeasures related to ballot shortages on election day," which the National Election Commission released together, the exact number of remaining ballots in Songpa was 42,747. Songpa printed 282,800 ballots, which was 50.02% of its number of voters, while Jamsil 3-dong and Jamsil 4-dong printed 60%.
The lower limit for the problematic election day ballot printing ratio was reduced to 50% ahead of this election from the previous 60%. Wi said, "After the last election, remaining ballots increased, creating difficulties in inspecting and storing millions of ballots, and there were also concerns about loss, theft, and seizure." He added, "In particular, when excessive quantities of ballots were printed relative to election day turnout, we were hounded by allegations of election fraud; there were calls from the field to lower the floor in areas where early voting increased and election day voting decreased, and there were difficulties securing printers for ballots due to the short printing period."
The National Election Commission said it commissioned a policy research project in 2022 to The Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), and, reflecting the findings of a task force (TF) for procedural improvements composed of frontline staff, adjusted the minimum election day ballot printing ratio to 50%. The comprehensive management guidelines for the 9th nationwide local elections were amended on Dec. 10, 2025, by the secretary-general's approval, and the public office election procedural manual was amended on Dec. 24 of the same year by the election policy director's approval.
The ballot shortage was not limited to Songpa. According to the National Election Commission report, as of the 8th, ballot shortage cases were confirmed at 140 polling places across 12 metropolitan/provincial jurisdictions and 49 districts/cities/counties nationwide. Of these, 91 polling places actually used the additional ballots that were sent. Twenty-six polling places experienced voter queues after voting was paused, even briefly, and then resumed.
Seoul had the most polling places that used additionally dispatched ballots, with 42. In Seoul, that included 20 in Songpa, 7 in Seongbuk, 5 in Gangnam, 4 in Gwangjin, and 2 in Seocho. Additional ballots were also used due to shortages at 23 polling places in Gyeonggi, 11 in Incheon, 4 in Daegu, and 3 in Busan, among others.
The National Election Commission cited as causes of this incident: ▲ improperly calculated ballot printing ratios ▲ insufficient situational assessment on election day ▲ lack of concrete work processing standards ▲ inadequate crisis response systems. It said past polling-place turnout rates were not fully considered, and even as election day turnout rose, the number of remaining ballots by polling place was not properly tracked.
According to the National Election Commission report, Songpa's turnout was higher than the Seoul average, but its printing ratio was lower. In the 9th local elections, Songpa's turnout was 65.8%, 2.2 percentage points higher than Seoul's 63.6% average, the fourth highest among Seoul's 25 districts. However, Songpa's printing ratio was 50%, lower than Seocho's 60–90%, Seongdong's 60–70%, and Yangcheon's 60%.
As a follow-up measure, the National Election Commission said it will reexamine the appropriate ballot printing ratio, including scrapping the 50% floor. It will also devise a method to determine precise ballot quantities by taking into account turnout by precinct, as well as standards and reporting systems for additional ballot distribution, and a plan to operate a crisis response team on the days of voting and counting.
Wi said the detailed circumstances will be revealed through an investigation by a fact-finding committee composed of outside members, a law enforcement probe, and a National Assembly inquiry. "We will proceed with follow-up responses with a grave awareness that not even one person's right to vote should be infringed," Wi said.
A joint investigation headquarters of prosecutors and police also launched a probe. Starting that morning, the task force searched seven locations, including the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi; the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission; and the election commissions of Songpa, Seocho, Gangnam, Gwangjin, and Dongjak districts. The task force plans to examine how the ballot shortage occurred and whether election commission officials acted intentionally or negligently, after securing the ballot printing plan, meeting minutes, and budget documents.