"Prepared Ballots Only 49.3%, Failing to Meet Minimum 50% Guideline"... Court Orders Preservation of Jamsil Ballot Storage Boxes, CCTV Footage as Evidence

Application to Preserve Jamsil Main Ballots and Ballot Boxes Dismissed
On-Site Inspection of Jamsil 7-dong Second Polling Station Scheduled for the 10th

The court has ordered the preservation of certain ballot paper storage boxes, CCTV footage, and other items as evidence in connection with the ballot paper shortage incident during the June 3 local elections.

On the 9th, Kim Jiyeon, presiding judge of the 51st Civil Division at the Seoul Eastern District Court, partially granted an application for evidence preservation filed by Kim Jeongcheol, a senior member of the Reform New Party and former Seoul mayoral candidate.

On the 5th, ballot boxes that were blocked by protesters and could not be moved to the counting center after the shortage of ballots at the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul during the June 3 local elections are being transferred. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Previously, Senior Member Kim applied for evidence preservation prior to filing an election invalidation lawsuit, arguing that the ballot paper shortage led to procedural violations such as voters giving up on voting and the extension of voting hours.

With this court decision, the ballot paper storage box marked “1,900 printed ballot papers” and its packaging, stored at the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, were included as items to be preserved. In addition, CCTV footage showing the polling stations and ballot box storage scenes, recorded from 8 a.m. on June 3 to 9 p.m. on June 5 at ten polling stations in Songpa-gu that experienced ballot shortages—including this polling station—was also ordered to be preserved. The court further ordered the preservation of group chat logs, messenger conversations, and text messages exchanged among National Election Commission staff members at the time.

However, the court dismissed the application for evidence preservation regarding the actual ballots used at polling stations where shortages occurred and the ballot boxes transferred to the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Seoul. The court explained that these pieces of evidence were either not sufficiently relevant to the facts to be proven, or it was not deemed problematic to conduct evidence investigation after the election litigation, rather than beforehand.

The ballot paper storage box that is now subject to preservation is considered a key resource illustrating the ballot management practices of the National Election Commission. The box in question was labeled as containing “1,900 printed ballot papers,” while the number of registered voters at this polling station was identified as 3,856. This means that the prepared ballot papers amounted to only 49.3% of the electorate, falling short of the “at least 50% printing” guideline.

On May 29, the early voting day for the 9th nationwide local elections, a traveler visited the early voting site set up in Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport and cast their vote. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

At this polling station, all prepared ballot papers were depleted before the end of voting, resulting in some voters being unable to cast their ballots and leaving the site. The conversation records among National Election Commission staff are expected to show when the ballot shortage was reported and how the staff responded.

The court viewed that, since ballot boxes and ballot papers are already stored under the management of the National Election Commission, there is little need for separate evidence preservation. In contrast, items such as CCTV footage and ballot paper storage boxes were considered at risk of deletion or damage, warranting their preservation.

Judge Kim is scheduled to conduct an on-site inspection at the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong at 3 p.m. on the 10th. This polling station is where voting hours were extended and a two-night, three-day occupation took place.

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