Students at Yonsei University denounce ballot shortages in the June 3 local elections during a rally on their campus in Seodaemun District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
University students across the country denounced the ballot shortages in last week's local elections as a fundamental violation of the right to vote and the Constitution, demanding sweeping reforms at the National Election Commission (NEC).
They warned the political parties, both liberal and conservative, that they should not use the issue for their own political gains, saying the students are calling for a thorough investigation to establish the reason behind the ballot shortages and measures to prevent a repeat of the incident.
Student bodies at 18 universities issued a joint declaration Wednesday, a week after at least 91 polling stations nationwide faced ballot shortages, leaving many voters unable to cast their ballots or forced to wait past the 6 p.m. closing time. Former NEC Chairman Roh Tae-ak resigned days later to take responsibility, and a joint police-prosecution investigation was launched this week.
“We gathered here not merely to speak about the flaws in the electoral system, but to speak about the one vote that was taken from us,” Hwang In-seo, emergency council head of the Yonsei University student council, said during a rally on the school campus in western Seoul's Seodaemun District. “A citizen stripped of that vote has not simply missed an election. They have been denied the rights as a sovereign citizen and turned away from democracy.”
