"Total Failure in Election Management Confirmed… Recommendation to Investigate Former NEC Chair Roh Tae-ak and Others"

[Anchor]

The Fact-Finding Committee of the National Election Commission (NEC) announced the results of its investigation into the ballot paper shortage incident today (June 19). The committee stated that the NEC made a hasty decision to reduce the number of printed ballots and that the reporting system was paralyzed. Consequently, it has recommended that 12 individuals, including former NEC Chairperson Roh Tae-ak, be referred for investigation.

Reporter Ha Jeong-yeon reports.

[Reporter]

The NEC Fact-Finding Committee, composed of external experts, concluded its ten-day investigation and announced the findings regarding the ballot shortage today.

The committee pointed out that while the budget for printing ballots was allocated for 110% of the electorate, a directive was issued to reduce printing to 50% of the number of voters, citing reasons such as budget waste and limited storage space. The committee criticized this as an extremely administrative-convenience-oriented approach.

[Cho Hyun-wook / Chairperson of the Fact-Finding Committee: The claim that printing too many ballots could lead to suspicions of election fraud is putting the cart before the horse...]

In particular, the committee noted that the directive to reduce the number of printed ballots was decided hastily by the Secretary-General without any discussion or resolution by the Central Committee.

It was also confirmed that although concerns about a ballot shortage were raised as early as 12:00 PM on election day, June 3, the crisis response and reporting systems failed to function entirely.

[Cho Hyun-wook / Chairperson of the Fact-Finding Committee: The rapid reporting system to the higher-level committee did not work at all, and the command authority of the higher-level committee was not exercised.]

The committee also highlighted a total failure in the process of delivering additional ballots, noting that they were sent in zipper bags without proper sealing and that social service agents were involved in the process. As a result, the committee recommended that 12 NEC officials, including former NEC Chairperson Roh Tae-ak, former Seoul Election Commission Chairperson Oh Min-seok, and former Songpa-gu Election Commission Chairperson Min So-young, be referred for investigation.

The Fact-Finding Committee emphasized the need for sweeping reforms and proposed measures to prevent recurrence, such as increasing the ballot printing ratio and introducing a full-time system for the NEC Chairperson.

In particular, it also suggested institutional improvements to include the NEC within the scope of the Board of Audit and Inspection's official duties.

(Video reporting: Kang Dong-chul, Video editing: Choi Jin-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.