Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Ballot shortage reignites debate over early voting as PPP pushes to scrap system
Election workers open an early-voting ballot box at a vote-counting center set up at Seoul National University's gymnasium in Seoul, June 3, the day of the local elections. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
Opposition party cites election trust concerns; critics warn of reduced voter access
Political fallout from the ballot shortage controversy during the June 3 local elections continues, with the main opposition People Power Party’s (PPP) push to abolish early voting reviving debate over Korea’s election system.
The issue resurfaced after PPP lawmaker Park Dae-chul introduced a bill seeking to scrap early voting, extend election day voting to two days and revive the absentee voting system. The proposal was co-sponsored by 24 PPP lawmakers and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, the party’s former leader.
Han described the proposal as a long-held position.
“Replacing early voting with a longer election period has been my position for a long time,” Han wrote on social media. He has repeatedly argued that election day voting should be extended instead of maintaining the current early voting system.
The move came after the June 3 local elections were marred by ballot shortages at several polling stations, leading to long lines and complaints from voters.
The National Assembly has since launched a parliamentary investigation into the incident.
While the controversy stemmed from problems on election day rather than during the early voting period, it has renewed scrutiny of a system that has remained politically contentious since its introduction in 2014.
Supporters of abolishing early voting argue that the system has long been at the center of election fraud allegations, particularly over the shortage of early voting ballot boxes and the transfer of out-of-district ballots. They contend that restoring public trust in elections should take precedence over voter convenience.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has rejected attempts to link the ballot shortage issue to early voting, noting that the disruptions occurred on the day of the elections itself, not during the early voting period.
Rep. Han Byung-do, the DPK floor leader, said lawmakers should stop making what he described as unfounded election fraud claims and focus instead on improving election administration.
Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the main opposition People Power Party, chair of a parliamentary special committee investigating the ballot shortage controversy during the June 3 local elections, presides over the committee's first plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul, June 18. Yonhap
Political analyst Shin Yul of Myongji University described the controversy as a case of election mismanagement rather than election fraud.
“This was not election fraud but a poorly managed election,” Shin said. “There is no evidence that anyone intentionally manipulated the result. The problem was a failure of election management.”
Shin said the controversy has nevertheless reignited debate over the early voting system, arguing that election authorities must manage an increasingly complex process involving turnout projections, ballot demand and separate voting periods.
He also questioned whether early voting has significantly increased voter participation.
“People often overestimate its effect on turnout,” Shin said.
Shin raised another concern involving the election polling blackout period. Since the publication of opinion polls is still allowed during the early voting period, early voters are able to consider the latest publicly available survey results.
Voters who cast ballots on election day, meanwhile, make their decisions after several days without access to new polling data.
“For the same election, voters are making decisions under different information conditions,” Shin said.
Cho Jin-man, a political science professor at Duksung Women’s University, said the priority should be restoring confidence in the election system following the ballot shortage controversy.
“Anything that can help restore public trust should be considered,” Cho said.
He added that abolishing early voting would be difficult without broad political consensus or evidence that the system itself had undermined election integrity.
Cho said the debate should not be approached solely from a partisan perspective, arguing that unresolved disputes over election legitimacy could continue to fuel social divisions after every election.
He said discussions about reform should focus on rebuilding confidence in the electoral process rather than generating new political conflicts.
Academic research offers mixed assessments of the impact of early voting.
A 2023 study by political scientists Park Sang-hoon and Hur Jae-young analyzing voting behavior in the 2022 presidential election found that early voting led some people who might otherwise not have voted to cast ballots, while also providing a more convenient option for those who already intended to vote.
The study showed that 33.2 percent of early voters cited personal circumstances that prevented them from voting on election day, while 16 percent pointed to work-related reasons. Another 34.6 percent said they chose early voting because it was more convenient.
The researchers concluded that early voting served both a mobilization function and as a convenient avenue for voters.
The findings suggest that a substantial share of early voters relied on the system because work schedules or personal circumstances made election-day voting difficult, a point frequently cited by opponents of abolishing early voting.
The Assembly’s special committee investigating the controversy is scheduled to continue its probe through Aug. 1 while discussing possible election reforms.