Past ballots were discovered belatedly during the vote counting and tabulation process of the 21st presidential election last year. [Photo=Yonhap News]

Past ballots used in previous elections were confirmed to have been discovered belatedly during the vote counting and tabulation process of the 21st presidential election last year. 

Criticism regarding the infringement of suffrage rights is rising, along with calls for comprehensive improvements to the entire election management system, due to the election commission's inadequate management of ballot boxes, which resulted in valuable voter ballots being treated as spoiled votes. 

According to the 'Research Report on the Improvement of Public Election Procedures and Affairs' submitted by Kim Min-jeon, a member of the National Assembly's Administration and Safety Committee from the People Power Party, to the National Election Commission on the 17th, at least five ballots from past elections were found during the vote counting and tabulation of last year's presidential election.

The discovered ballots were from elections held as recently as two months ago and as far back as three years ago. Specifically, they included ballots from: △ the 2022 local elections: Seoul Gangseo District Constituency No. 4 City Council election ballots △ the 22nd general election: Gimpo and Bucheon constituencies in Gyeonggi Province, and Seoul Guro District proportional representation ballots △ and the April 2025 by-election: Busan Superintendent of Education by-election ballots.

These ballots were discovered only after the election results had been finalized, and thus were not reflected in the vote tally at all and were subsequently invalidated. The Election Commission stated, "We determined that these ballots did not affect the election results themselves," and they are currently being kept at the respective local election commissions.

The reason provided by the Election Commission is astonishing: "Residual ballots that were stuck in the gaps of the ballot boxes." In other words, "past ballots were belatedly released because the ballot boxes were reused without being properly emptied." Ballots were strongly adhered to the curved parts inside the large ballot boxes or caught in the gaps where the fabric and plastic rim were connected at the top of the absentee ballot boxes, preventing them from being removed during the previous counting.

Regarding this incident, Representative Kim Min-jeon emphasized it as a serious accident where voter ballots were omitted from the tally and stated, "The related suspicions must be thoroughly investigated through a special prosecutor's investigation." She added, "Fundamental inspection and institutional improvements to the overall election management system are urgently needed."