Constitutional Court Issues First Ruling on 'Ballot Shortage' Incident: Why the Court Demanded Proof of Residence

A constitutional complaint filed regarding the "ballot shortage" during the June 3 local elections has been dismissed on the grounds that the petitioner was not a voter in an affected area.

This marks the first ruling among four constitutional complaints filed in connection with the ballot shortage incident.

The Constitutional Court announced on Wednesday (June 17) that it dismissed the constitutional complaint—filed by a private citizen seeking a declaration of unconstitutionality regarding the lack of ballots on the day of the 9th Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections—during a preliminary review held yesterday.

The dismissal was based on the fact that the petitioner did not meet the "requirement of self-relevance," as they resided in a region where no ballot shortage occurred.

A Constitutional Court official explained, "The petitioner needed to demonstrate that the election commission responsible for their place of residence failed to prepare sufficient ballots," adding, "There was no evidence that ballots were insufficient or that voting was suspended at polling stations in the area covering the petitioner's address."

Dismissal refers to the termination of a case without a merit review when the requirements for the claim, such as the standing of the parties, are not met.

The Constitutional Court conducted the preliminary review of the constitutional complaint through a designated panel of three justices.

Preliminary reviews are still underway for the remaining three constitutional complaints related to the ballot shortage incident.

One of these three cases was filed on June 8 by lawyer Do Tae-woo, who previously served as a member of the legal team for the impeachment trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

It is reported that 35,216 people, including residents of Jamsil 7-dong, participated in this constitutional complaint.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.