The joint police-prosecution investigation headquarters (joint team), which is currently investigating the "ballot shortage incident" that occurred during the June 3 local elections, is said to have detected indications that regional election commissions recognized in advance the possibility of ballot shortages but failed to properly carry out related guidelines.
According to legal sources on the 5th, the joint team secured a work email titled "Notice of precautions related to ballot management duties" during its seizure of the National Election Commission server and is investigating how regional election commissions responded afterward.
The National Election Commission is known to have sent a work notice on May 31, right after early voting, to election commissions in districts, cities, and counties nationwide, saying, "In precincts with low early voting rates, a situation of ballot shortages may occur, so it is necessary to prepare response measures such as providing additional unnumbered ballots."
The joint team suspects that regional election commissions did not properly implement the relevant guidelines even though they checked early voting rates and also received the National Election Commission's notice. If the early voting rate was low, they should have prepared for the possibility of ballot shortages, but adequate preparations were not made.
The joint team believes that if existing guidelines and rules had been properly followed, the ballot shortage that occurred on election day could have been prevented.
Investigators are also continuing to look into how the print run for ballots was reduced to around 50% of the number of eligible voters.
The previous day, one Songpa District election commissioner was summoned as a reference witness to determine whether internal concerns were raised during the process of cutting the ballot print run.
Since its launch last month, the joint team has questioned about 70 people, including staff at polling places that ran short of ballots and employees of regional election commissions, to reconstruct what happened. Once the questioning of officials at the National Election Commission and the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission is complete, the investigation is expected to extend to the leadership.
In addition, as it has finished questioning the complainants, the joint team is expected to begin questioning those involved in allegations that former National Election Commission Chair Roh Tae-ak and commission employees took overseas trips for pleasure under the guise of business.
Meanwhile, the joint team also took over from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office the cases involving alleged hiring irregularities at the commission and the alleged drafting of false budget requests, and is investigating them together.
Earlier, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency referred to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office a case alleging that the general affairs chief and the personnel chief of the Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission arbitrarily adjusted some applicants' interview scores during a 2021 experienced-hire process.
The joint team is also investigating allegations that National Election Commission employees drafted a budget request that omitted items flagged by the Board of Audit and Inspection, submitted it to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and received budget support.
The joint team plans to expand its probe into the commission's overall operations, including hiring irregularities and overseas trips for pleasure under the guise of business, by forming a team dedicated to personnel and budgets. To that end, on the 1st it received the additional dispatch of Director General Im Hong-seok, the chief prosecutor of the Tongyeong branch of the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office, and starting on the 6th it will add two more junior prosecutors. Procedures to reinforce police staffing are also underway.