The Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission destroyed a storage box of ballots from a Jamsil-dong polling station that a court had designated for preservation [1].
The incident raises questions about the integrity of election materials and the ability of the commission to follow judicial mandates. The loss of these documents may hinder legal efforts to verify vote counts or investigate potential irregularities in the voting process.
The destroyed materials came from polling station No. 2 in Jamsil-7-dong [1]. According to the commission, the disposal occurred as part of standard procedures because officials were unaware the specific box was subject to a court preservation order [1].
However, the contents of the box have sparked further controversy regarding management failures. The number of printed ballots in the box was 1,900 [1]. This figure represents 49.3% [1] of the total 3,856 registered voters [1] at that specific polling station.
Critics point out that this percentage falls below the required 50% printing floor for ballot materials [1]. This discrepancy suggests a failure in the initial preparation of the voting materials, independent of the later destruction of the evidence.
An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission said the agency followed typical procedures and did not know the box was included in the preservation target [1].
“The Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission destroyed a storage box of ballots from a Jamsil-dong polling station that a court had designated for preservation.”
The destruction of court-ordered evidence, combined with a ballot printing rate that fell below the 50% threshold, suggests a systemic failure in both the administrative preparation and the legal compliance of the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission. This may provide grounds for legal challenges regarding the validity of the results at the Jamsil-7-dong polling station.
