Subtitled News: "We Never Ran Out Before..." NEC Caught Giving False Reports; 42 Polling Stations Needed Emergency Ballots in Last Presidential Election

The National Election Commission (NEC), currently embroiled in controversy over ballot shortages during the June 3 local elections, has been found to have supplied additional ballots to polling stations during the local elections four years ago and the presidential election last year.

Despite previous instances of ballot shortages, the NEC lowered the minimum threshold for printing ballots from 60% to 50% ahead of this election.

According to data provided to Democratic Party lawmaker Lim Mi-ae by the NEC, two polling stations received an additional 100 to 200 ballots during the 8th local elections four years ago.

In one of those cases, a polling station in Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do, actually used one of the additional ballots. During the 22nd general election in 2024, one polling station was also sent additional ballots.

Furthermore, during the 21st presidential election last year, 42 polling stations were supplied with additional ballots, ranging from 50 to 500 sheets.

Among them, a polling station in Dalseong-gun, Daegu, actually used 12 of the additionally distributed ballots.

During those three previous elections, the minimum threshold for printing ballots was higher than it was for the June 3 local elections; the threshold was 60% for the 8th local elections and 70% for the 22nd general election and the 21st presidential election.

Even so, the number of ballots printed at the time was barely sufficient.

However, it appears that there were no cases in past elections where voters had to wait for ballots or where voting was suspended.

Despite this, the NEC claimed during the second meeting of the Democratic Party's "Task Force for Protecting Citizens' Suffrage" held on Tuesday (June 16) that "no polling districts have been identified where ballots were insufficient in previous elections" while reporting on the current ballot shortage situation.

As a result, the NEC is facing criticism that it failed to properly grasp the basic facts of past situations even after the entire country was thrown into an uproar over the ballot shortage crisis.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.