Ballot Box From Missing Jamsil 7-dong Polling Place No. 2 Already Disposed Of, Election Commission Says Court Preservation Order Evidence Was Destroyed

[Financial News] The ballot storage box from Jamsil 7-dong Polling Place No. 2 in Seoul's Songpa-gu, which was at the center of a ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections and had been subject to a court order to preserve evidence, is reported to have already been discarded.
On the 10th, Dong-A Ilbo reported that the Songpa-gu Election Commission had already disposed of the ballot storage box from Jamsil 7-dong Polling Place No. 2, which was identified as key evidence for determining whether the number of printed ballots was appropriate.
The outside of the box reportedly bore markings such as "1,900 printed copies," prompting claims that the local election authorities may have prepared too few ballots compared with the actual number of voters.
An official from the Songpa-gu Election Commission told Dong-A Ilbo, "The box was collected on the 9th by a disposal contractor along with other items," adding, "Unlike ballot boxes that store completed ballots, a simple storage box is not subject to a legal retention obligation."
The National Election Commission (NEC) was also reported to have said, "From the Songpa-gu Election Commission's perspective, it could not have known in advance about the court's order to preserve evidence."
The Songpa-gu Election Commission said the box was discarded around noon on the 9th. That was before 5:30 p.m. the same day, when the Seoul Eastern District Court notified the preservation order.
Earlier, Reform Party Supreme Council member Kim Jeong-cheol filed a request with the Seoul Eastern District Court to preserve evidence. Kim said, "There were 3,856 eligible voters on the voter roll for Jamsil 7-dong Polling Place No. 2, but only 1,900 ballots were prepared, which is below even the 50% lower bound often cited as the minimum printing ratio, or 1,928 ballots. We need to verify this," and asked the court to preserve the box. The court accepted the request and issued a preservation order.
However, when court officials, including Presiding Judge Kim Ji-yeon of the Seoul Eastern District Court, visited Jamsil 7-dong Polling Place No. 2 on the afternoon of the 10th for an on-site inspection, the box was already gone. The inspection lasted about 26 minutes but ended without finding the box.
Kim said, "The site had already been completely cleared, so we could not find the box," adding, "I think this is a serious problem."
Meanwhile, the investigation into the ballot shortage is also moving into full swing. Police are investigating former NEC Chair Rho Tae-ak and others, while also coordinating appearance schedules with officials from the election commissions in Songpa, Dongjak, Gangnam, Seocho, and Gwangjin districts.
They are also said to be securing and analyzing CCTV footage from some polling stations to review how they were operated on election day.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yunkyung Reporter