Election Officials Summoned Over Ballot Shortage Incident in Songpa

Two officials from the Songpa District Election Commission are being summoned on charges of neglect related to the ballot shortage incident during the June 3 local elections.

The joint investigation team, led by Kim Tae-hoon, deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, announced on July 28 that they will question Election Officer A and Election Section Chief B as suspects in the case.

The officials are accused of failing to take preventive measures despite being aware that a ballot shortage could occur at a specific polling station. They also allegedly ignored requests for additional ballots from polling stations and did not respond promptly.

These individuals were identified as suspects during the investigation process initiated by the joint team, marking the first time direct suspects have been summoned for questioning.

Previously, the joint team had investigated election commission officials who were reported for their roles in the incident.

The investigation has also uncovered evidence of a single ballot serial number being duplicated on two ballots at polling stations under the Songpa District Election Commission.

Additionally, two officials from the National Election Commission are scheduled to be questioned as witnesses regarding allegations of overseas trips for personal gain by former Chairman Noh Tae-ak.

The joint team continues to conduct searches of the National Election Commission's servers related to the alleged manipulation of voting statistics. They have discovered that staff responsible for managing local polling stations during the recent elections allegedly altered statistical figures to conceal errors in voter counts.

Instead of reporting errors to superiors and following proper procedures for corrections, these staff members reportedly manipulated the statistics by entering false numbers.

As part of the investigation, the joint team has been conducting searches since July 23 at the National Election Commission's headquarters in Gwacheon and the Songpa, Gangnam, and Seocho district election commissions to gather relevant materials.