The joint investigation team conducted a search and seizure of 12 officials from the National Election Commission. [Yonhap News file photo]

The joint investigation team of prosecution and police, tasked with uncovering the truth behind the "ballot shortage crisis" during the June 3 local elections, is summoning officials from the Songpa-gu District Election Commission in Seoul for the second consecutive day.

According to legal circles, the joint investigation team plans to summon two employees from the Songpa-gu Election Commission as witnesses on the 26th for questioning.

These individuals are known to be the staff responsible for managing polling stations in areas such as Jamsil 7-dong, where the ballot shortage occurred.

On the 24th, the joint investigation team conducted search and seizure operations on the offices and mobile phones of 12 officials from the Seoul Metropolitan and Songpa-gu Election Commissions.

This move is intended to determine through what channels the election commission officials, who were notified of the ballot shortage at local polling stations, reported the situation internally and what instructions they received in response.

Beginning yesterday, the team has been summoning the officials who were subject to the search and seizure to verify the reporting paths and the nature of the responses regarding the ballot shortage on the day of the incident.

Witness interviews for four local government officials who worked at the polling stations are also scheduled for today.

Former Korean history instructor Jeon Han-gil displays a box at a press conference held on the 12th in front of the SK Handball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul—the site of the ballot counting station blockade—claiming that he secured one of the missing ballot storage boxes from the Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station through a tip-off.
The joint investigation team is also analyzing items, including ballot storage boxes, that were submitted to the police by former Korean history instructor Jeon Han-gil, who has been alleging election fraud.

On the 15th, while filing a complaint against Wi Chul-hwan, the acting chairman of the National Election Commission, for dereliction of duty, Jeon also submitted election-related items, including two ballot storage boxes, marking tools, and approximately 1,700 electoral roll verification slips.

Jeon claims that the fact these items were left behind at the polling station is evidence that the Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station failed to properly verify voters.