Election officials raided over ballot shortage in June 3 local elections
An official walks into the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission in central Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
A joint police and prosecution team on Wednesday raided the offices of 12 election officials who oversaw polling stations in Seoul that experienced ballot shortages during the June 3 local elections, officials said.
The raids targeted three officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission and nine from the Songpa District Election Commission, in an effort to reconstruct the events on election day, trace how they reported the ballot shortages up the chain of command and what specific directives they were given.
Launched on June 9 under orders from President Lee Jae Myung, the joint investigation team is probing allegations that the National Election Commission (NEC) hastily decided to reduce the number of printed ballots and failed to respond effectively to ballot shortages on election day.
On June 11, investigators raided the NEC and seized internal approval documents and voting logs.
The team plans to question the 12 officials after analyzing their seized materials, and is expected to expand their probe to high-level officials of the election watchdog, including former Chairman Roh Tae-ak and former Secretary-General Heo Chul-hoon.