Constitutional Court Issues First Ruling on 'Ballot Shortage' Case: Why It Was Dismissed

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 area affected by the ballot shortage."

This marks the first ruling among four constitutional complaint cases related to the ballot shortage incident.

The Constitutional Court announced today (June 17) that it dismissed the constitutional complaint filed by one private citizen, titled "Confirmation of Unconstitutionality of Ballot Shortage 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 the ballot shortage did not occur.

A Constitutional Court official explained, "The petitioner needed to provide an explanation, such as that the election commission responsible for their place of residence had prepared insufficient ballots," adding, "There is 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 composed 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 also 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.