It was pointed out today (the 24th) that the National Election Commission (NEC) exacerbated confusion at polling sites by mechanically applying a "rounding down" rule, which discards any remainder of fewer than 100 ballots in certain voting districts.

According to data submitted by the NEC to Representative Kim Yong-man of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's special committee on the parliamentary investigation, 12 out of 26 polling stations that experienced voting delays had used fewer than 100 additional ballots.

Polling stations such as Jamsil 2-dong No. 2 in Songpa-gu used 7 additional ballots, while Jamsil 2-dong No. 7 used 4, Jamwon-dong No. 7 in Seocho-gu used 5, and Hwamyeong 1-dong No. 7 in Buk-gu, Busan, used 12, all of which were cases where the shortfall was less than 100 ballots.

Of the 12 locations that used fewer than 100 additional ballots, 10 applied the rounding down rule when distributing the initial ballots.

This means the initial ballots were distributed based on the rounding down rule (as stated in the Public Official Election Procedure Manual), which mandates that for polling districts with 1,000 or more voters, any remainder of fewer than 100 ballots must be discarded.

For instance, at the Jamsil 2-dong No. 2 polling station in Songpa-gu, applying the minimum printing standard of 50% to the number of eligible voters (4,295) should have resulted in the distribution of 2,147 ballots. However, due to the application of the rounding down rule, only 2,100 were actually sent.

The number of voters who actually cast their ballots at this station was 2,107, leaving a shortage of 7 ballots from the initial allocation.

This implies that if the rounding down rule had not been applied, the voting delay would not have occurred.

The manual also includes a supplementary provision stating that "when reducing the number of printed ballots, the number can be rounded up for polling districts with 1,000 or more voters, taking into account local circumstances."

Representative Kim pointed out that the mechanical application of the rounding down rule, without any consideration for the characteristics of regions like Songpa and Gangnam where large apartment complexes are concentrated, led to the voting delays.

"Implementing a 50% reduction, the lowest in history, while mechanically applying the rounding down rule is an act that disregards the precious voting rights of the people," said Rep. Kim. "Through the parliamentary investigation, we will thoroughly identify these incompetent administrative practices and hold those responsible strictly accountable."

(Photo: Yonhap News)