Participants reject partisan labels after Seoul ballot shortage, calling it a voting rights issue Volunteers make picket signs for a gathering calling for a rerun of the recent local elections in Jamsil, southern Seoul, on Sunday. (Cha Min-jung/The Korea Herald) On Sunday morning in southern Seoul, the scene did not look like the election-related rallies South Korea has grown used to in recent years.A crowd had gathered outside the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium, where ballot boxes from Jamsil 7-dong’s second polling station were brought for vote counting after a ballot paper shortage was reported there.Young men and women stood alongside parents with babies and children, while a few US flags were visible among those calling for a rerun of Wednesday’s elections.Police informally estimated the crowd at about 33,000 at its peak Saturday night, with some people remaining at the site through the night. Baek Seung-tae, 25, stands beside his car bearing messages calling for a rerun of the recent local elections in Jamsil, southern Seoul, on Sunday. (Cha Min-jung/The Korea Herald) "Actually, I'm not someone with strong political leanings," said Baek Seung-tae, a 25-year-old from Paju, Gyeonggi Province. He had parked his car outside the gymnasium and invited other participants to write messages of support on the vehicle with markers."What matters most is that people were deprived of their voting rights, a fundamental right, even though the election was funded with taxpayers' money earned through the hard work of our parents and our generation," Baek said.Baek’s comments echoed what other participants at the site also said: that their demand was not about party politics, but about the election process and voting rights.The gathering was triggered by reports of a ballot paper shortage at a polling station in Songpa-gu, southern Seoul, during Wednesday's local elections and parliamentary by-elections.It has continued since Friday, with a few hundred people present on Sunday morning and more participants lining up around lunchtime to enter the venue. Participants in a gathering calling for a rerun of the recent local elections chant outside the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Jamsil, southern Seoul, on Sunday. (Cha Min-jung/The Korea Herald) Organizers asked participants and media outlets not to describe the event as a partisan protest, saying it was a citizen-led gathering focused on voting rights and the ballot paper shortage.Allegations of election fraud have been a recurring theme among conservative groups in recent years, often drawing older participants and young conservative men, with South Korean and US flags frequently on display.This time, however, many of those at the site appeared to be in their 20s and 30s, with both men and women present, despite surveys in recent years showing a growing political divide between the two groups. Young men have generally tended to lean more conservative, while young women have been more supportive of liberal parties."It seems hard to deny that there were significant problems in the election process, and the National Election Commission should be subject to scrutiny and reform," said Jeong Hae-jeong, a woman in her 20s who attended the gathering with a college friend from Incheon.Young parents were also a visible presence. Some pushed strollers through the crowd, while others attended with elementary school-aged children, waving South Korean flags and calling for a rerun of the vote."My son recently entered elementary school, and he's at an age when he's beginning to learn how the world works," said Kwon, a man in his 30s who attended with his son. "I want him to know that citizens can speak out when they believe something is unfair."The maintenance of order and distribution of donated supplies were handled by volunteers, according to a 22-year-old participant from Dongtan, Gyeonggi Province."People volunteered on site, introduced themselves to one another and took on different roles as needed," he said.The scene also differed from past election-related rallies in tone and symbols. Attendees largely focused on the ballot paper shortage and the election process itself, while there was little visible focus on the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. A sign warning that political slogans unrelated to calls for a rerun of the election could be reported to the police is seen at a gathering outside the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in southern Seoul on Sunday. (Cha Min-jung/The Korea Herald) Organizers also asked attendees not to display US flags, which have frequently appeared at conservative rallies and election fraud gatherings in recent years."Rather than showing our political preferences, we want to send the message that, as citizens of the Republic of Korea, we should be able to exercise our rights," one organizer told the crowd while asking for understanding from some attendees."For that reason, we will only display the South Korean flag, not the flags of other countries."Despite the diverse backgrounds of attendees, their message was largely unified around calls for a rerun of the vote. Some signs displayed at the venue warned attendees that messages unrelated to a rerun of the election could expose participants to legal complaints.Any nationwide rerun would carry political consequences for both major parties. The Democratic Party won 12 of the 16 mayoral and gubernatorial races contested on Wednesday, while the People Power Party retained the Seoul mayoralty and secured an additional parliamentary seat in a by-election.