[Anchor]
After 6:00 PM, the official closing time for voting, the situation inside the No. 2 polling station became even more chaotic. Although voting was extended until 10:00 PM, polling station officials locked the doors as protesting citizens gathered, eventually forcing some voters to turn away. The scene of total chaos was captured in its entirety on CCTV.
Here is an exclusive report from reporter Ha Jeongyeon.
[Reporter]
The chaos at the Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station intensified after 6:00 PM, the time designated for the end of voting under election law.
Outside the polling station, reporters and protesting citizens gathered, while inside, voters packed the space, with some seen waiting while checking the news on their mobile phones.
As voting continued, including a woman who appeared to be pregnant exercising her right to vote, staff closed the polling station doors at 7:03 PM.
About 20 minutes later, the vote counting process began following a declaration by the Songpa-gu Election Commission chairman, even as voting continued inside.
This is a point of contention regarding the legality of the process.
[Cho Hyun-wook / Chairman of the Committee for Truth and Investigation into the June 3 Local Election Ballot Shortage: Regarding the inappropriate decision to extend voting hours... The vote count was declared and initiated while voting was still underway due to the extension...]
Around 8:50 PM, when the Seoul Election Commission announced the extension of voting hours at the No. 2 polling station until 10:00 PM, staff stood blocking the doors as the number of protesting citizens increased, and eventually locked the doors at 9:15 PM.
They only allowed entry to those who had arrived at the polling station by 6:00 PM and received a waiting ticket.
[Citizen: Do I need a waiting ticket? I came earlier and left. Can I go back in and vote?]
There were also voters who came after hearing the news of the extension because they were unable to vote at other polling stations.
[Citizen: We came back to vote because we heard they were open until 10:00 PM. We thought it would be possible since we were told we could vote.]
Around 9:28 PM, a voter who entered with their face covered finished voting and tried to head toward the back door, seemingly to avoid the crowd outside, but eventually exited through the front door when that proved difficult.
CCTV footage shows that only one person voted after the polling station doors were locked.
[Kim Jeong-cheol / Supreme Council Member of the Reform Party: We thought it was guaranteed until 10:00 PM, but they had already locked the doors before that, so how could anyone go in and vote? I believe this is a serious infringement on the right to vote.]
Furthermore, among the 175 people who received waiting tickets, 12 did not cast their votes, and the possibility that they turned away due to the difficulty of even entering the polling station cannot be ruled out.
Reported by Ha Ryung | Video by Lee Seung-hee | Graphics by Choi Jin-hoe | Produced by SBS Digital News
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