Noh Tae-ak, Chairman of the National Election Commission, heads to his office after concluding an emergency committee meeting at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the 4th. [Yonhap News]

Police will launch an investigation into key personnel of the Election Commission involved in the 'ballot shortage incident' during the June 3 local elections.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 4th that it had assigned the complaint against Noh Tae-ak, Chairman of the National Election Commission, and other high-ranking officials of the Election Commission, for dereliction of duty and abuse of power, to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Major Crimes Investigation Unit.

The decision for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to directly investigate was made just one day after the complaint was filed by the Committee for the People's Livelihoods (CPL), a conservative civic group.

The CPL filed a complaint against Chairman Noh, Secretary-General Huh Cheol-hoon, Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission Chairman Oh Min-seok, Administrative Director Kim Beom-jin, and Songpa-gu Election Commission Chairman Min So-young, alleging they neglected election duties and committed dereliction of duty and abuse of power by preparing fewer ballots for Songpa-gu than the number of voters.

In fact, it was found that the Songpa-gu Election Commission printed only about 50% of the total number of registered voters for the main election day.

50% is the minimum printing ratio newly established by the National Election Commission for this local election.

According to Yang Bu-nam, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the minimum standard for printing was 60-70% of the number of registered voters for the 2022 presidential and local elections and the 2024 general election.

A Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official stated, "We plan to conduct necessary investigations, including the complainant's testimony, in accordance with procedures."