Court officials fail to secure key evidence at polling station over ballot shortage

SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- Court officials on Wednesday failed to secure a key piece of evidence at a polling station site in Seoul in connection with a shortage of ballots during last week's local elections.

On Tuesday, the Seoul Eastern District Court ordered the preservation of evidence related to the ballot shortage at the site in Jamsil, Songpa Ward, last Wednesday, including a container for ballot papers before votes were cast.

The container is seen as key evidence in the case as it had been labeled to contain only 1,900 ballots, falling short of the required 50 percent minimum for the area's 3,856 eligible voters.

The officials, however, were unable to find the container during an inspection of the site.

A National Election Commission (NEC) official told Yonhap News Agency by phone that the election watchdog did not have the container and would have to check for its whereabouts.

Officials from the Seoul Eastern District Court leave an elderly community center, which served as a polling station during the June 3 local elections, in southeastern Seoul on June 10, 2026, after conducting an on-site inspection for evidence related to a shortage of ballots at the site. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

On Friday, police broke through a group of protesters at the site to remove two boxes of cast ballots, which had not been counted. People had gathered there to demand a re-run of the election, taking issue with the ballot shortage.

The container with the label of 1,900 ballots had been spotted at the time, raising suspicions election workers did not prepare the minimum required number of ballots at the polling station.

Court officials are expected to ask the NEC about the whereabouts of the container.

Meanwhile, protesters rallied at a vote-counting facility in Jamsil for the sixth day Wednesday, demanding a new election.

The lack of ballot papers during the June 3 local elections temporarily suspended voting at 26 polling stations nationwide, according to the NEC.