The Seoul Eastern District Court conducted a field inspection of the Jamsil 7-dong Second Polling Station on Wednesday to investigate a ballot shortage [1].
The move follows a request by Kim Jung-chul, a supreme council member of the Reform Party, to secure evidence regarding the administration of the local elections [1]. The investigation seeks to determine how a lack of ballots occurred and who within the National Election Commission bears responsibility for the failure [1].
Court officials arrived at the site, located at the Woosung Apartment senior center, at 3 p.m. [1]. During the inspection, the court preserved several pieces of evidence, including a storage box for ballot papers marked with a print count of 1,900 sheets [1].
Beyond the physical ballots, the court expanded its evidence preservation to include CCTV footage from 10 different polling locations [1]. Officials also secured communication records among National Election Commission staff to analyze the internal response to the shortage [1].
The incident occurred on June 3, 2024, during the local elections [1]. The shortage at the Jamsil 7-dong site created disruptions for voters, leading to the current legal effort to preserve digital and physical logs before they could be overwritten or discarded [1].
The court's action ensures that the specific volume of printed materials, and the movements of personnel captured on video, are documented for future legal proceedings [1].
“The court preserved several pieces of evidence, including a storage box for ballot papers marked with a print count of 1,900 sheets.”
The court's decision to preserve evidence from multiple polling stations suggests the investigation may extend beyond a single localized error. By securing CCTV footage from 10 sites and internal commission communications, the judiciary is treating the ballot shortage as a potential systemic failure rather than an isolated clerical mistake, which could lead to broader administrative accountability for the National Election Commission.
