Ballot Shortage Suspension Causing Protests
- Doyoung Lim
- Jun 11
- 2 min read
June 11, 2026
Doyoung Lim
On the 3rd of June, when the main voting for the local elections took place, chaos continued at around 10 polling places. Citizens who waited over an hour to vote continued to protest, and a significant number of voters left without exercising their right to vote. Some polling places affected by the ballot shortage extended the voting deadline from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. According to the people, there were 17 polling stations where voting was suspended due to a shortage of ballots. These included eight polling stations in Seoul’s Songpa District, two in Gangnam District, two in Seocho District, one in Gwangjin District, one in Dongjak District, two in Incheon, and one in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.
Lee Sang-neung, the NEC’s first director of elections, said, “I have not received any reports of similar cases occurring in the past,” adding, “This means that if there were 100 voters, only 50 ballots were printed.” In one polling place in Songpa District at around 5.53 p.m., seven minutes before the deadline, about 150 voters were waiting to vote without being able to enter the polling place. Voting at this place had been suspended since 4:30 p.m., and NEC staff distributed waiting tickets to voters due to lack of ballots. Yet, most people left after waiting for a long time.
Additionally, around 500 voters were waiting in front of the polling station at 5:45 p.m., 15 minutes before the deadline. The NEC staff prepared only 200 waiting tickets, making voters wait even to receive them. Eventually, due to these severe cases, dozens of citizens gathered and chanted, “Invalidate the election! Invalidate the count!” Experts said, “The NEC’s lack of preparation infringed on voters' right to vote.” A high court in the metropolitan area said that there is a possibility of legal disputes.
