SEOUL — South Korea’s parliament voted Thursday to open a 45-day formal investigation into the National Election Commission following a ballot paper shortage that threw the country’s June 3 local elections into chaos.
The probe was approved at a full plenary session of the National Assembly. The ballot shortage fiasco has sparked public protests, led to the resignation of the election commission’s top official, and prompted President Lee Jae Myung to demand a thorough review of what happened.
A special parliamentary committee has been formed to scrutinize both the National Election Commission and regional election bodies. Lawmakers described the situation as a violation of citizens’ voting rights and said reforms to election management are urgently needed.
The investigation panel includes members from the ruling Democratic Party, the main opposition People Power Party, and several smaller parties. People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun is set to serve as the committee’s chair.
National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik addressed the significance of the inquiry, saying: “The fact-finding investigation is not the end, but the beginning.” He added, “The parliamentary investigation should identify the causes and lead to election management reform measures that the public can trust.”
On Wednesday, NEC acting secretary-general Kang Dong-wan met with university student representatives who had been staging protests. He told them the commission felt “devastated” over its failure to adequately prepare and pledged cooperation with the parliamentary inquiry, a joint police-prosecution investigation, and an internal audit.
An NEC official confirmed Wednesday that ballot shortages affected 91 polling stations across the country, with voting temporarily suspended at 26 of those locations during the local elections.
In Seoul’s Songpa district, one polling station was forced to halt voting at 4:46 p.m. It did not resume until 5:39 p.m. and ultimately stayed open until 10 p.m. to accommodate roughly 175 voters holding waiting tickets. However, 12 people who had received waiting tickets never came back to cast their ballots, according to the NEC official.
