Police secure the area around the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on June 4, where a protest condemning the shortage of ballot papers in the 2026 local elections is taking place. [NEWS1]
Korea's election agency is facing a deepening credibility crisis after a ballot shortage on Election Day left voters at over a dozen polling stations unable to cast their votes, with new figures showing the agency had budgeted to print enough ballots for 110 percent of eligible voters but printed only half that number.
The incident has left political parties on both sides calling for accountability from the National Election Commission (NEC), and experts say it has exposed deep structural problems in an agency that has operated for decades with little external oversight.
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Fourteen polling stations in Seoul ran out of ballot sheets on Wednesday, forcing voting to continue until 10 p.m. — four hours past the original closing time. Twelve of the affected stations were in Songpa District, southern Seoul, with one each in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, and Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul. The extended hours meant some voters were still casting ballots as live vote counts were being broadcast on television nationwide.
