Joint investigation headquarters into ballot paper shortage, 12 NEC officials searched [Yonhap News file photo]

The joint investigation headquarters (JIT) established to uncover the truth behind the "ballot paper shortage" during the June 3 local elections summoned an official from the Dongjak-gu Election Commission on the 6th.

According to legal circles, the JIT plans to call in one official from the Dongjak-gu Election Commission this morning as a reference witness for questioning.

The investigation is expected to focus on reviewing the overall preparations for the local elections by the Dongjak-gu Election Commission, as well as their response when the ballot paper shortage occurred on the day of the election.

The JIT had previously focused on summoning officials from the Songpa-gu Election Commission, followed by successive summons of officials from the Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu Election Commissions to reconstruct the situation at the time of the ballot shortage.

By expanding the scope of the investigation to other autonomous districts that faced ballot shortages, such as Dongjak-gu, the JIT intends to determine whether problems similar to those in Songpa-gu occurred during the election preparation process.

The JIT is examining the entire process, including when the election officials first became aware of the possibility of a ballot shortage and how they responded afterward. They are working to identify the specific circumstances, including the reporting channels through which the shortage was communicated and the nature of the directives received.

Previously, on May 31, immediately after early voting, the National Election Commission sent an official notice to district, city, and county committees nationwide, stating, "As ballot shortages may occur in districts with low early voting turnout, it is necessary to devise countermeasures, such as the additional distribution of unnumbered ballot papers."

The JIT believes that if regional election commissions had confirmed low early voting turnout, they should have prepared for a potential ballot shortage in accordance with the official notice, but failed to make proper preparations.

Meanwhile, the JIT has also received cases involving recruitment irregularities at the National Election Commission and the creation of false budget requests transferred from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and has launched investigations into these matters.