From the scene to the top ranks in the "ballot shortage" case... JIH to intensify investigation over the weekend
- Input
- 2026-06-20 15:43:27
- Updated
- 2026-06-20 15:43:27
According to the legal community on the 20th, JIH has been questioning the polling manager in charge of the Gaepo 2-dong polling place in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, since the afternoon of that day as a reference witness. JIH is also said to have secured testimony from recent interviews with officials dispatched to polling places and other related personnel indicating that the NEC's response was not smooth when the ballot shortage occurred.
Based on the voting records seized during its search of the NEC on the 11th, JIH is identifying when ballots ran short at major polling places and through what channels additional ballots were requested. It is also expected to examine the NEC's internal decision-making process from the time it decided to reduce the number of ballots printed until election day, using server analysis and other evidence.
Once analysis of the seized materials and interviews with dispatched officials are partly completed, summonses of NEC employees are expected to begin in earnest. JIH's investigation is broadly focused on four areas: allegations of inadequate response on election day, the decision to reduce the number of ballots printed, suspicions of lax NEC management, and the disposal of ballot storage boxes.
First, it is concentrating on whether the NEC responded poorly to the ballot shortage on election day. JIH reconstructed the election-day situation by questioning local government officials who worked at Jamsil 7-dong Polling Place No.
2 in Songpa District on the 16th, then officials who managed polling places in Jamsil, Banpo and Noryangjin on the 18th, and officials who oversaw a polling place in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, the following day. JIH also plans to determine whether there were problems with the NEC's internal judgment and procedures in the process of reducing the number of ballots printed, including whether the on-site response at the time was appropriate.
The NEC had lowered the ballot-printing ratio from "60 percent or more" of eligible voters to "50 percent or more" based on a 2022 research report by KIPA titled "Measures to Improve Election Procedure Administration. " Those details were included in the "Comprehensive Management Guidelines for the 9th Nationwide Local Elections," which were implemented on Dec.
10 last year under the authority of the Secretary-General. JIH plans to check the Secretary-General's scope of authority and standard administrative practices, and to determine whether proper procedures were followed in drafting and implementing the guidelines.
It will also examine whether former NEC Chairperson Rho Tae-ak and former Secretary-General Heo Cheol-hoon, among others at the top, played a role in the process. The alleged disposal of ballot storage boxes, a case handed over by the police, is also under investigation.
Earlier, the Songpa District Election Commission discarded the ballot storage box used at Jamsil 7-dong Polling Place No. 2 before the Court issued a preservation order for evidence.
The NEC explained that it disposed of the box because there was no legal obligation to keep it, but the move sparked accusations of evidence destruction. JIH plans to determine whether storage boxes fall under items the NEC is required to manage and whether there was intent behind the disposal.
Meanwhile, JIH is also expected to launch a full-scale investigation soon into allegations that the NEC handled its budget carelessly, including former Chairperson Rho's trips abroad with his spouse and overseas junkets by NEC employees. During his tenure, Rho accompanied his spouse on all three of his overseas trips.
The post-trip reports released to the public did not mention the spouse's presence or how the budget was spent, drawing criticism.
chord@fnnews.com Lee Hyun-jung Reporter