Why did special counsel Lee Tae-han’s team ask the NEC to preserve the 420 Songpa ballot boxes?

The team said it might need to examine the boxes again. It had reviewed the ballots as part of its investigation into Election Day shortages that prevented some voters from casting ballots.

What will happen to the 13 ballot boxes retained by Lee Tae-han’s special counsel team?

The team will inspect their contents further in response to objections raised by on-site observers. Some of the boxes will be sent to the National Forensic Service for closer examination.

How long will the NEC keep the 420 ballot boxes from Songpa Ward?

Under election law, the boxes transferred to an NEC storage facility in the capital area will be kept for the duration of the elected officials’ terms.

Special counsel asks election watchdog to keep ballot boxes intact for possible review

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Summary

Special counsel Lee Tae-han’s team asked the National Election Commission on Friday to preserve 420 ballot boxes after inspecting ballots from Seoul’s Songpa Ward, saying it may need to examine them again. The boxes had been stored at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium since the June 3 local elections. The team retained 13 other boxes for further inspection, including possible examination by the National Forensic Service, as it investigates ballot shortages that turned some voters away.

Key Facts

The team reviewed all 2.47 million ballots cast in Songpa Ward before moving the boxes from the gymnasium on Thursday.
The National Election Commission said the 420 boxes were taken to a storage facility in the capital area.
Under election law, the boxes will be stored for the duration of the elected officials’ terms.
The remaining 13 boxes are to be examined further based on objections raised by on-site observers, and some may be sent to the National Forensic Service.
Protesters had blocked the ballots’ removal from the gymnasium since June, calling for accountability over the shortage and a rerun of the elections.

By Yonhap

Published Oct 30, 2026 9:40 pm KST

Some protesters gather outside a police cordon in front of the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Songpa District, Seoul, Thursday, after a special counsel team investigating ballot shortages in the June 3 local elections completed a public inspection of ballots and removed ballot boxes from the venue. Yonhap

A special counsel team on Friday asked the National Election Commission (NEC) to keep intact the 420 ballot boxes that drew no objections during its inspection at a Seoul handball arena, saying it may need to examine them again.

The boxes had sat in the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in southeastern Seoul since the June 3 local elections. Special counsel Lee Tae-han's team carried them out Thursday after reviewing all 2.47 million ballots cast in the southeastern Songpa Ward.

The team has been investigating unprecedented ballot shortages on Election Day that turned some voters away before they could cast their votes.

The ballots were placed in 433 boxes, 420 of which were taken to an NEC storage facility in the capital area, according to the commission. Under the election law, they will be stored for the duration of the elected officials' terms.

The team took the remaining 13 boxes and will inspect their content further based on objections raised by on-site observers. Some of them will be sent to the National Forensic Service for closer examination.

The gymnasium served as a vote counting center during the elections, but protesters had blocked the ballots' removal since June amid calls for accountability for the shortage and a rerun of the elections.

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