Ballot boxes stacked at an Olympic Park counting station [Yonhap News file photo]The joint investigation team (JIT) looking into the "ballot paper shortage" during the June 3 local elections has uncovered evidence suggesting that local election commissions were aware of the potential for a shortage but failed to follow the relevant guidelines.

According to legal sources on the 5th, the JIT secured an internal email titled "Notice of Precautions for Ballot Management" during its search and seizure of the National Election Commission (NEC) servers and is currently analyzing the subsequent response by the election commission.

At the time, immediately following early voting on May 31, the NEC sent an internal notice to district and municipal election commissions nationwide, stating that "in voting districts with low early turnout, a shortage of ballots may occur, so it is necessary to prepare countermeasures, such as the additional distribution of unnumbered ballots."

The JIT suspects that the local election commissions failed to properly implement these guidelines, even after receiving the notice and having access to the early voting turnout data.

The authorities believe that once the low early turnout was confirmed, the local commissions should have prepared for a potential shortage in accordance with the internal notice, but failed to take adequate measures.

It is the JIT’s view that the worst-case scenario—a ballot shortage on election day—could have been prevented had the local election commissions adhered to existing guidelines and regulations.

JIT investigating ballots, conducts search and seizure of 12 NEC officials [Yonhap News file photo]

The JIT is also continuing to investigate the circumstances behind the decision to reduce the number of printed ballots to 50% of the number of eligible voters.

The previous day, the team summoned an official from the Songpa-gu Election Commission as a witness to confirm whether internal concerns were raised during the process of reducing the ballot count.

Since its launch last month, the JIT has focused on reconstructing the events of that day by questioning over 70 individuals, including officials from the affected polling stations and local election commission staff.

Once the investigations into officials from the National and Seoul Metropolitan Election Commissions are concluded, it is expected that the probe will move toward higher-ranking officials.

With the questioning of the complainants completed, investigations into allegations of lavish overseas "inspection" trips taken by former NEC Chair Noh Tae-ak and other commission staff are also expected to proceed.

Meanwhile, the JIT has also taken over and begun investigating cases transferred from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office regarding hiring irregularities at the NEC and the fabrication of false budget request forms by NEC staff.

Previously, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency referred to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office a case in which the head of the general affairs department and an HR manager at the Gyeonggi-do Election Commission arbitrarily adjusted interview scores for certain candidates during the 2021 experienced-hire recruitment process.

Furthermore, the JIT is investigating a case where NEC staff allegedly submitted budget requests to the Ministry of Economy and Finance that omitted items flagged by the Board of Audit and Inspection, ultimately securing the budget.

The JIT plans to establish a specialized team for personnel and budget matters to scrutinize the overall operations of the NEC, including allegations of hiring irregularities and the suspicious overseas trips.

To this end, following the addition of Lim Hong-seok, a senior prosecutor from the Tongyeong branch of the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office, on the 1st, two additional assistant prosecutors will be deployed starting on the 6th.

Procedures are also underway to secure additional police personnel to reinforce the investigative team.