[Anchor]

We continue with our exclusive report on the ballot shortage. During the June 3 local elections, the first place where voting was suspended due to a shortage of ballots was the 7th polling station in Jamsil 4-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. We have obtained CCTV footage from inside this polling station, where voting was suspended and resumed three times. The footage captures the chaos of the day, showing staff running around with shopping bags filled with ballots and even the police being dispatched.

First, here is an exclusive report by Reporter Ha Jung-yeon.

[Reporter Ha Jung-yeon]

This is CCTV footage from inside the 7th polling station set up in Jamsil 4-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the day of the June 3 local elections.

At around 2:40 PM.

As a polling officer explains something to voters, they begin to turn back.

This was the moment voting was suspended for the first time due to a shortage of ballots.

Polling officers look out the window as if waiting for something, and soon after, a man rushes in holding a shopping bag.

These are the additionally delivered ballots.

Two minutes later, at 2:42 PM, voting resumes.

About two hours later, at 4:46 PM.

As the additional ballots also run out, a second suspension occurs.

Polling officers count the voters waiting in a long line, write down their names in order on a register, and send them away.

Uniformed police officers also arrive at the scene.

At 5:16 PM.

Another man rushes in holding a shopping bag containing ballots.

Voters who were waiting outside the polling station begin to line up again, and voting finally resumes more than 30 minutes after it was suspended.

[On June 3: "They didn't give us enough for the number of people here in the first place; only about 60% of the papers arrived. They said they don't give 100% from the start."]

However, at 5:50 PM.

The waiting line grows long again, and with 10 minutes left before the polls close, voting is suspended for the third time.

Someone is seen trying to explain the situation to voters who cannot understand what is happening, but as soon as it hits 6:00 PM, the doors of the polling station are shut tight.

This CCTV footage was secured through an application for the preservation of evidence filed in court by Kim Jung-chul, a former Reform Party candidate for Seoul Mayor.

(Video Editing: Kim Yun-seong, Design: Jegal Chan)

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[Anchor]

The National Election Commission's (NEC) poor prediction of ballot demand and inadequate on-site response led to the infringement of voting rights, a scene also captured on the CCTV. Despite the suspension of voting, voters lined up and waited to cast their precious votes, but some were ultimately unable to vote and had to turn back.

Here is Reporter Kim Kwan-jin.

[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin]

This is CCTV footage from inside the 7th polling station in Jamsil 4-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul.

At 5:52 PM, eight minutes before the polls close.

A woman pushing a stroller enters the polling station.

However, seeing the long, unmoving line stretching to the entrance due to the ballot shortage, she hesitates, seemingly flustered.

She looks inside the polling station as if to check how many voters are waiting.

After listening to an explanation from a polling officer, she joins the line for a moment. But six minutes later, when she is asked to write down her personal details and receive a waiting number, she leaves the polling station, unable to wait any longer.

We checked the CCTV footage up to the moment the polling station completely closed, but the woman did not return.

This is a scene where a voter's right to vote was infringed upon due to the NEC's complacent demand forecasting and failure to distribute ballots properly.

Other voters were also captured turning back after being informed of the voting delay, but the NEC did not even keep a record of exactly how many people were unable to vote.

During the suspension, a man who visited the polling station with a child left after talking with a polling officer for a long time, but returned just before the deadline to barely exercise his right to vote.

[Kim Jung-chul / Reform Party Supreme Council Member: "The right to vote is what secures the legitimacy of South Korea's governing structure. Unless there is a reform of the NEC on the scale of dissolution, there is a concern that distrust in the electoral system will expand further."]

The number of registered voters at the 7th polling station in Jamsil 4-dong was 3,204.

The actual number of voters on the day of the election was 1,836, but only 1,400 ballots were initially distributed.

According to the voting log, 500 additional ballots were supplied in five batches of 100.

Only 64 unused ballots remained.

(Video Editing: Park Ji-in, Design: Jegal Chan, Park Cheon-ung)

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[Anchor]

We will discuss this in more detail with Reporter Ha Jung-yeon of the Political Department, who covered this story.

Q. How was the polling station CCTV footage obtained?

[Reporter Ha Jung-yeon: This CCTV footage was secured after Kim Jung-chul, a member of the Reform Party's Supreme Council who was a candidate for Seoul Mayor in the June 3 local elections, filed an application for the preservation of evidence with the court, which the court accepted. The CCTV itself was not installed by the National Election Commission, but was originally in the building where the polling station was located. Under current regulations, even if there is already a CCTV camera pointing at the voting booths, it must be covered on election day to guarantee a secret ballot. Therefore, the CCTV footage released this time only shows the waiting area outside the voting booths. In addition to this CCTV from the 7th polling station in Jamsil 4-dong, where voting was suspended three times, the court has ordered the preservation of CCTV footage from 10 polling stations in Songpa-gu, Seoul, including the 2nd polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, where voting was extended until 10:00 PM.]

Q. Has it been confirmed that more voters gave up voting?

[Reporter Ha Jung-yeon: Yes, that is correct. It has been confirmed that there were more people who left without voting than the 39 officially counted. The reason the NEC used the phrase "at least 39" was because they took into account that there could be more. In fact, the figure of 39 was compiled by the NEC through voting logs. Looking at the voting logs of the 26 polling stations where voting was suspended, there are cases where the number or names of voters who waited for ballots to arrive but eventually left were recorded. This is how the number 39 was derived. However, when we checked the voting log of the Jamsil 4-dong 7th polling station, we found that despite voting being suspended three times, there was no record at all in the remarks section about how many people waited and then left. Yet, as seen in the CCTV footage earlier, we can clearly see voters, like the mother with the stroller, turning back. This is proof that there were likely more than the 39 recorded in the logs. Cho Hyun-wook, chairman of the NEC's truth-finding committee, also admitted in a phone call with SBS today that although not recorded in the voting logs, there could be more voters who left without being able to vote. This is an important point as these are direct cases of voting rights being infringed upon. There is one more point to consider. Article 151 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that party-recommended committee members must participate in the process of sending and handing over ballots. However, looking at this CCTV footage, it was confirmed that this procedure was not followed at all during this process.]