South Korea Local Elections: Ballot Shortage Sparks Protests, Delayed Vote Counting

South Korea local elections on April 3rd were marred by a ballot shortage in 14 Seoul polling stations, leading to protests and delayed vote counting. The Central Election Management Committee stated that the issue does not meet the criteria for a delayed or rerun election.

According to Yonhap News, the Central Election Management Committee stated today that the "ballot paper shortage" incident during the local elections does not meet the criteria for a delayed or rerun election as stipulated by the "Public Official Election Act."

The election committee pointed out that the ongoing vote counting cannot be interrupted, and "to confirm the will of voters who completed their voting at the relevant polling stations, the ballot boxes should be moved to the vote counting stations."

The South Korean local elections originally had voting hours from 6 AM to 6 PM on April 3rd, followed by vote counting, and exit poll results were announced as scheduled. However, a dispute over a shortage of ballot papers occurred at 14 polling stations in Seoul, including 12 in Songpa District and one each in Gangnam District and Gwangjin District. Voting at the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong even concluded at 10 PM.

As of 8 AM today, a large crowd of protesters remained outside the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, shouting slogans such as "Rerun election," "Election invalid," and "Unfair election." Consequently, the ballot boxes inside the polling station have not yet been transported to the vote counting station.

As there were many conservative supporters at the protest site, a CNA reporter was temporarily mistaken for a Chinese reporter and was angrily told to "Get out, Chinese." After clarifying their identity, the crowd apologized to the reporter. A Ms. Kim, in her 50s, told CNA reporters, "We must implement a full rerun election. Taiwan does not have advance voting now, so we hope to adopt Taiwan's method."

Although most young women in South Korea support the ruling Democratic Party, a 20-year-old female university student participating in the protest told CNA reporters, "14 polling stations ran out of paper, this is something that should not happen. Regardless of who wins, there should be a rerun election." People Power Party candidate Oh Se-hoon had previously made a comeback, but vote counting in the Seoul constituency has not yet been completed.

However, some nearby residents clashed with the protesters, saying, "The election is already over!" The protesters retorted, "It's not over yet!" (Editor: Wei Shu) 1150604