2,000 Ballots Blocked as Overnight Standoff Erupts at Jamsil 7-dong Polling Station Over Ballot Counting

Voting Extended by Four Hours in Jamsil 7-dong Due to Ballot Shortage
Hundreds of Citizens and YouTubers Gather to Protest Alleged Election Fraud

On June 3, during the main voting of the 9th nationwide local elections, an unprecedented shortage of ballot papers at the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, led to an overnight standoff. Hundreds of citizens who raised concerns about the voting process, along with conservative YouTubers, gathered and blocked the removal of the ballot boxes, causing delays in the ballot counting process.

As of around 8 a.m. on the 4th, more than 10 hours after the standoff began, citizens who had gathered since the previous night were still blocking the removal of the ballot boxes at a senior center inside an apartment complex where the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong was set up. At one point, the unofficial count reached about 300 people. Several conservative YouTubers, holding cameras, chanted slogans such as "fraudulent election" and "dissolve the National Election Commission." Some participants draped themselves in the Korean national flag or the U.S. flag or waved them, while others got into heated arguments with residents leaving for work.

At around 8 a.m. on the 4th, at the community center of an apartment complex in Jamsil 7-dong where the second polling station was set up, citizens and conservative-leaning YouTubers who had gathered since the previous night were blocking the removal of the ballot box for over 10 hours. Photo by Jaehyun Park

Lee, a resident in his 60s who said he has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years, remarked, "This shows how serious the problems with the National Election Commission are. If things continue like this, we will have no choice but to doubt even past elections." Another resident in his 60s, Han, who identified himself as a "Songpa native," said, "There is a voter list, so how could they have prepared so few ballot papers? If our neighborhood is reported in international news for something like this, it would be so embarrassing."

This location is one of 14 polling stations in Seoul that experienced a ballot paper shortage. Many of the affected areas, including Songpa-gu, Gangnam-gu, and Gwangjin-gu, are considered to have strong conservative leanings. The incident has fueled the opposition's claims of election fraud. The National Election Commission stated that they printed ballot papers for only half of all eligible voters in Songpa-gu. At the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, waiting tickets were distributed to residents who could not vote by 6 p.m. the previous day, and voting continued until 10 p.m. The National Election Commission estimated that about 2,000 ballots were contained in the two ballot boxes that had not left the site as of the morning of the 4th. The total number of registered voters at the Jamsil 7-dong second polling station is 3,856.

The Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission has announced that it will not immediately enforce the ballot box transfer. Due to concerns of physical clashes at the scene, they indicated they would not push for removal by force. However, they acknowledged that transferring the ballot boxes is inevitable in order to complete the counting process. The Election Commission also clarified that they have not withdrawn their intention to transfer the ballot boxes.

On the morning of the 4th around 8 a.m., at a seniors' center in an apartment complex in Jamsil 7-dong where the 2nd polling station was set up, citizens and conservative-leaning YouTubers who had gathered since the previous night have been blocking the removal of ballot boxes for over 10 hours. Photo by Jaehyun Park

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, a total of 470 officers from the mobile unit and local police stations were deployed at the polling station site. At around 12:30 a.m., the police first deployed 50 officers from the mobile unit to reroute vehicles trying to enter the polling station or adjacent roads. As the standoff intensified, the number of personnel stationed at the scene was greatly increased. From 6 p.m. the previous day until 5 a.m. on the 4th, there were a total of 135 emergency calls to 112 related to the Jamsil 7-dong second polling station.

At Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul, protesters claiming that "this election is fraudulent" gathered to hold a demonstration. The group moved their protest to the National Election Commission's Gwacheon office after Jeon Hangil, a YouTuber and former Korean history instructor, pointed to the location in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as the assembly point on his personal broadcast.

Meanwhile, the Committee for the People's Livelihood filed a complaint with the police against Noh Taeak, Chairperson of the National Election Commission, Heo Cheolhun, Secretary General, Oh Minseok, Chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission, and Kim Beomjin, Secretary General, accusing them of abuse of authority and dereliction of duty.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.