"I Can No Longer Work With Such an Incompetent Group"... Songpa District Official Slams Election Commission

Election Commission Faces Criticism Over Ballot Paper Shortage
"No Election Commission Staff Came to the Site"
Calls to Stop Using Local Government Officials as Scapegoats

"Election duties should be handled solely by the National Election Commission. Stop using local government officials as scapegoats."

Amid an unprecedented shortage of ballot papers during the 9th nationwide local elections, a post strongly criticizing the National Election Commission—presumably written by a Songpa District official who supported election operations—has drawn public attention.

Screenshot of the Free Board of the Songpa District Branch of the Seoul Regional Headquarters of the Korean Government Employees' Union

On the 3rd, a post titled "Election Management, I Absolutely Cannot Do This Anymore" was uploaded to the website of the Songpa District Branch of the Seoul Regional Headquarters of the Korean Government Employees' Union. The author, identified as "A," stated, "I won't say much," adding, "How could not a single staff member from the Songpa District Election Commission come to the site, allowing such a situation to occur?" The post continued, "I can no longer work with such an incompetent group," and added, "Let me leave work. Tomorrow, our local government officials need to report to work as usual."

During the local elections that day, some polling stations ran out of ballot papers, causing voting to be suspended for voters. According to the National Election Commission, as of 9 p.m., the ballot paper shortage affected 14 polling stations located in Jamsil 2-dong, 4-dong, and 7-dong, Garak 2-dong, Munjeong 2-dong in Songpa District, Cheongdam-dong in Gangnam District, and Guui 3-dong in Gwangjin District, all in Seoul. The Commission urgently supplied additional ballot papers and extended the closing time to 10 p.m.

Heo Cheolhun, Secretary-General of the National Election Commission, issued a public apology at 9 p.m. that day, stating, "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to citizens who visited polling stations to exercise their precious voting rights, and we deeply regret having undermined public trust in the fair management of the election."

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

Confusion at polling sites continued throughout the night. Hundreds of people—including citizens who raised concerns about the voting process and conservative YouTubers—gathered to block the transfer of ballot boxes. In particular, there was an overnight standoff at the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa District. As of 4 p.m. on the 4th, the ballot box from that polling station still had not been moved to the counting center.

The National Election Commission announced it would form an investigation committee consisting mainly of external experts to determine the cause and establish measures to prevent recurrence.

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