National Election Commission [Yonhap News file photo]

The joint investigation team (JIT) consisting of prosecution and police officials has secured testimony that the National Election Commission (NEC) did not share information regarding the "ballot paper shortage" during the previous presidential election with its internal task force (TF) at the time it decided to reduce the number of ballot papers printed for local elections.

According to legal circles on the 19th, the JIT recently investigated officials from the NEC’s "Task Force for Improving Public Election Procedure Affairs" and secured testimony to the effect that "because we were not provided with data from the NEC, we were completely unaware of the fact that there was a shortage of ballot papers during the 21st presidential election."

The improvement TF is an organization launched by the NEC itself for the purpose of analyzing incidents from the 21st presidential election to implement improvements and prepare for local elections.

It was also the improvement TF that proposed reducing the lower limit of the ballot printing ratio to 50% of the number of voters for local elections, arguing that an excess of leftover ballot papers was leading to budget waste.

The testimony suggests that at the time the improvement TF proposed this, they were entirely unaware of the ballot shortage incident during the 21st presidential election.

During the 21st presidential election in 2025, unnumbered ballot papers were distributed at 58 polling stations across the country due to concerns over a shortage of ballots.

In fact, it was found that unnumbered ballots were used at the No. 12 polling station in Hwawon-eup, Dalseong-gun, Daegu, because there was a shortage of ballots.

The JIT views this testimony as circumstantial evidence supporting the mismanagement of the NEC and is investigating whether the NEC intentionally concealed the ballot shortage incident.

The JIT is expected to begin summoning suspects for questioning next week, including the bureau directors of local election commissions where the ballot shortages occurred.

Until now, the JIT has only conducted investigations into key polling stations and reference witness interviews with NEC working-level staff.

Meanwhile, the JIT has received seven investigators dispatched from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, including specialists in accounting and account analysis, and assigned them to a team dedicated to personnel and budget affairs.

The team plans to accelerate its investigation into allegations of mismanagement, including suspicions surrounding overseas business trips taken by NEC employees that were allegedly for leisure.