It has been revealed that in the unprecedented 'ballot shortage crisis' that occurred during the 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections, ballot papers were additionally sent to dozens of polling stations in the Gyeonggi region, or ballots ran out, causing temporary suspension of voting, contrary to the initial announcement by the National Election Commission.

In particular, at one polling station, a case where parts of the voter roster were missing was confirmed, escalating criticism of poor election management.

Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission [Yonhap News] 

According to the National Election Commission and others on the 9th, ballot papers were additionally sent to 36 polling stations in Gyeonggi Province on March 3rd, the election day, to supplement shortages.

By region, these include 3 in Suwon Jangan, 1 in Suwon Gwonseon, 9 in Seongnam Bundang, 5 in Uijeongbu, 8 in Namyangju, 2 in Osan, 1 in Hwaseong Dongtan, 2 in Yongin Giheung, 3 in Gimpo, 1 in Gyeonggi Gwangju, and 1 in Pocheon.

Although none of these polling stations were included in the initial list of additional ballot shipments (67 nationwide) announced by the National Election Commission on the 5th, they were belatedly confirmed during a detailed post-election review.

The National Election Commission stated this in a press release on the 8th announcing the launch of the Ballot Shortage Fact-Finding Committee, explaining that ballot papers were additionally sent to 140 polling stations nationwide.

Of the polling stations in the Gyeonggi region that received additional ballot papers, 23 were confirmed to have actually received and used them.

These include 2 in Suwon Jangan, 1 in Suwon Gwonseon, 5 in Seongnam Bundang, 4 in Uijeongbu, 5 in Namyangju, 2 in Osan, 1 in Yongin Giheung, 2 in Gimpo, and 1 in Gyeonggi Gwangju.

In particular, at one polling station in Gimpo, voting was temporarily suspended and then resumed after all ballot papers were exhausted, experiencing disruptions.

The National Election Commission apologized for the delay in accurately assessing the situation and announced that the Ballot Shortage Fact-Finding Committee would operate for 10 days from the 10th to the 19th.

Furthermore, at a polling station in Seongnam on the main voting day, a voter experienced inconvenience due to a missing voter roster.

Around 9 AM on election day, at the 4th polling station in Sampyeong-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, it was confirmed that one page of the voter roster, containing the registration numbers of 10 voters, was missing.

This fact was discovered when the election official, after verifying the identity of voter A, requested their signature on the voter roster.

At the time, the voter roster available at this polling station consisted of over 2,300 pages, with 10 registration numbers each for approximately 23,000 voters residing in Sampyeong-dong. It was determined that one page, containing the registration numbers of voter A and others, had been omitted during the compilation process.

Election officials at the scene then printed the missing voter roster and resumed voting within about 20 minutes.

Voter A returned home and visited the polling station again later that day to cast their vote.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Election Commission stated that, aside from voter A, no other cases of inconvenience due to missing voter rosters have been confirmed in the province to date.

Meanwhile, on the main voting day, it was also reported that parts of the voter roster, specifically registration numbers 2842 to 4137, were missing at the 5th polling station in Seonghwagaeshin Jukrim-dong, Cheongju, Chungbuk, leading the Election Commission to issue a public apology the previous day.