[SPOTLIGHT]26/06/05 South Korea election chief resigns after ballot shortage protests

[성기화 요셉]

Ballot shortages disrupted dozens of polling stations and triggered protests, fraud allegations, and riot police intervention in Seoul 

Protesters call for the suspension of ballot counting due to a shortage of ballot papers outside a counting station in Seoul on June 5. (Photo: AFP)

By AFP, Seoul

Published: June 06, 2026 05:03 AM GMT

Updated: June 06, 2026 05:07 AM GMT

The head of South Korea's election commission resigned on June 5, hours after riot police cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station following a near two-day blockade sparked by a ballot paper shortage during local elections.

The June 3 election was the first nationwide vote since President Lee Jae Myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration.

Lee's ruling Democratic Party swept most races but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat.

The National Election Commission (NEC) said late on June 6 that 50 polling stations nationwide had been affected, including more than 30 in Seoul.

It had already apologised after earlier saying 14 polling stations in Seoul ran short of ballot papers, blaming a failure to anticipate turnout.

The agency's chairperson, Rho Tae-ak, resigned over the furore, saying there is "no excuse for the occurrence of an unacceptable incident" that "infringed upon the people's precious right to vote".

However, he did not mention the possibility of a re-election.

NEC official Yoon Jae-soo said ballot papers were printed for 50 percent of eligible voters because an increase in early voting turnout in recent elections had resulted in large numbers of unused ballots.

Some polling stations stayed open until 10 pm (1300 GMT) on June 3 to accommodate voters, but the move did little to quell criticism of the commission's handling of the election.

Protesters holding signs that read "Stop the vote count" and "Invalidate the election" blocked authorities in Seoul's Jamsil 7-dong district from removing two ballot boxes.

A gathering of several dozen people on election night swelled to more than 1,000 protesters by June 4, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Polling station staff were forced to remain inside until June 5 morning, according to broadcaster KBS.

The boxes, containing about 2,000 ballots, were secured and transported to a counting centre after the riot police intervened on June 5 morning, an official from the Korean National Police Agency told AFP.

Livestream footage of the incident showed police physically removing demonstrators blocking entrances to the polling station, with some protesters shouting and resisting.

Heated exchanges followed, with one man shouting, "Is this really a country governed by the rule of law?" as officers repeatedly ordered demonstrators to clear the way.

Videos on social media showed police dragging an elderly man across the floor and clashing with protesters who resisted removal by lying down.

Lee ordered an investigation into the ballot shortage on June 4, condemning "a flaw that is difficult to accept".

People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyeok, whose party suffered a heavy local election defeat after Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration, said the election should be rerun.

Fundamental responsibility

Former president Yoon -- now jailed and on trial for insurrection -- claimed after declaring martial law that the NEC had ignored warnings about North Korean threats to voter data and failed to cooperate fully with intelligence agency inspections.

Yoon Suk Yeol's claims resonated with right-wing YouTubers and supporters, who spread unverified election fraud theories online and questioned the commission's credibility.

South Korean social media was flooded with unverified claims about the police intervention on Friday, including a post alleging a young man who tried to block the transfer of ballot boxes was assaulted by officers and left in a coma, accompanied by a photograph claiming to show him.

The Korean National Police Agency said claims that the man pictured was in a coma were untrue.

The election commission is a constitutional body with limited external oversight, and problems related to "internal discipline, oversight and investigations have long existed in a kind of blind spot", political commentator Park Sang-byung told AFP.

"Worse, it has effectively handed ammunition to election-fraud conspiracy theorists, who will likely exploit the controversy for months," Park said.