South Korea’s National Assembly has begun the formal process for a potential parliamentary investigation into the reported ballot shortages during the recent local elections. Requests for the probe were submitted by both the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP). This move signifies a step towards establishing a special parliamentary committee to look into alleged mismanagement by the National Election Commission during the voting process.
The ruling DP and the opposition PPP have put forward differing proposals regarding the scope of the probe and the allocation of seats on the committee. The PPP has suggested a separate special counsel probe to run alongside the parliamentary investigation, while the DP believes such action should be considered post the parliamentary probe. The reported ballot shortages at multiple polling stations in Seoul last week led to disruptions in voting and sparked protests over alleged election fraud.
In a related development, police conducted raids on the National Election Commission (NEC) and its local offices in Seoul as part of an investigation into the ballot shortages. Over 100 police investigators were involved in searches at seven locations, including the NEC’s headquarters in Gwacheon and its local offices in Seoul that experienced the shortages. The NEC confirmed that voting was temporarily halted at 26 polling stations nationwide, primarily in Seoul’s Songpa Ward, during the June 3 local elections due to the shortages.
Authorities are probing the NEC and its local offices for potential election law violations and dereliction of duty related to the ballot paper shortages. The incident led to ongoing protests demanding a re-run of the elections in Songpa Ward. The search and seizure warrant reportedly names former NEC Chairman Rho Tae-ak as a suspect, who resigned from his position following the incident. Investigators aim to gather evidence through the raids to ascertain the cause of the ballot shortages.
