NEC Visits Songpa District Office to Issue Formal Apology for Ballot Shortage

The National Election Commission (NEC) visited the Songpa District Office on the 24th to officially apologize for the ballot shortage and halted voting incidents that occurred in Songpa-gu, Seoul, during the June 3 local elections.

Kang Dong-wan, Acting Secretary-General of the NEC, visited the Songpa District Office this afternoon, met with Songpa District Mayor Seo Kang-seok, and stated, "We sincerely apologize to the public for an incident that should never have happened."

Bowing his head, Acting Secretary-General Kang said, "A ballot shortage occurred at 14 polling stations under the jurisdiction of Songpa-gu," adding, "I sincerely apologize to the approximately 1,800 Songpa-gu public officials and the 1,300 personnel engaged in vote-counting operations."

Kang acknowledged, "This unprecedented incident of a ballot shortage stemmed from the NEC creating guidelines that were completely unexpected beforehand," and admitted, "After the incident occurred, we fueled confusion by failing to resolve it clearly, promptly, and accurately."

While noting that staff members are also aware of the various criticisms and rebukes directed at the NEC, Kang added, "I want to clearly state that the NEC is not an organization that exists to betray the people."

Songpa District Mayor Seo accepted the NEC's apology while demanding measures to prevent recurrence and follow-up actions.

Mayor Seo emphasized, "Seventy-five percent of Songpa-gu public officials were mobilized for election duties, and Songpa-gu officials had to bear the brunt of voters' protests entirely," adding, "An incident like this must never happen again."

He further urged that as rallies demanding the clarification of suspicions regarding the ballot shortage and election fraud have continued for some 50 days at Olympic Park, the Minister of the Interior and Safety and the Chairperson of the NEC, who oversee elections, should visit the site to apologize directly and explain improvement measures.

Mayor Seo stated, "The government must take action so that rally participants can return to their daily lives and Songpa-gu residents can peacefully use Olympic Park."

Following the meeting, Acting Secretary-General Kang expressed his stance regarding statements made by some staff members during the joint police and prosecution investigation team's probe into "voting statistics manipulation," where they allegedly remarked to the effect of, "Isn't it fine as long as the final voter turnout matches?", calling the remarks "inappropriate."

Regarding the voting statistics manipulation, he stated, "There could never have been systematic command," adding, "We understand that such remarks came up during communication among staff in charge. We will have to watch the investigation unfold for the exact details."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.