Polling Stations Lacked NEC Staff and Emergency Response Guidelines

[Anchor]

While 190,000 public officials and other personnel managed polling stations during the June 3 local elections, no staff from the National Election Commission (NEC) were deployed to the sites. It has been revealed that the training materials distributed by the NEC to on-site personnel lacked any guidelines for responding to emergency situations, such as a shortage of ballots.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

This is the 92-page election management manual distributed to personnel assigned to polling stations ahead of the June 3 local elections.

It covers basic management duties as well as response protocols for specific scenarios, such as photography inside the polling station, the carrying of weapons, or bringing pets.

However, there are no guidelines for responding to emergency situations, such as a shortage of ballots.

On the day of the main vote, approximately 193,000 personnel were deployed to 14,288 polling stations across the country.

Local government officials accounted for the largest portion at about 98,000, followed by 25,000 school staff and 4,000 national government officials.

Employees from financial institutions and public agencies were also drafted.

In contrast, no staff from the National Election Commission were deployed to the polling stations.

The total authorized strength of the NEC nationwide is 3,034.

The reason given was a lack of manpower to cover the polling stations.

NEC staff at city, county, and district offices, averaging about seven people each, managed the polling stations remotely from their offices on election day while also handling ballot counting duties in the afternoon.

Ultimately, this means that temporarily mobilized public officials had to respond to emergency situations on the fly, without proper manuals or training.

[Cho Jin-man / Professor of Political Science and Diplomacy, Duksung Women's University: It is clear that it would not be easy for the public officials and other workers on the ground to make responsible decisions in such situations.]

Public officials who were deployed to the polling stations but are not affiliated with the NEC say the burden of responsibility for on-site incidents is being shifted onto them.

[Jung Hae-chan / Secretary General, Namhae-gun Branch of the Korean Government Employees' Union: They are saying we should respond with only four hours of training. The control tower has collapsed, and the structure is such that the organizations that came to assist with NEC work have to take on everything themselves.]

While strengthening manuals and training are being discussed as primary alternatives, experts point out that the overall election management system must be reformed to clarify the accountability of the NEC.

(Video reporting: Kang Dong-cheol | Video editing: Shin Se-eun | Graphics: Lee Jun-ho | Data provided by the office of Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the Democratic Party)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.