Court Issues Order To Preserve Evidence Over S. Korean Local Election’s Ballot Shortage

SEOUL, June 9 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- A court on Tuesday issued an order to preserve evidence on ballot boxes related to the unprecedented shortage of ballot papers that disrupted voting in parts of Seoul during last week's local elections, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Seoul Eastern District Court accepted a petition filed by Kim Jung-chul, a supreme council member of the minor Reform Party, to ensure the preservation of boxes and other items related to the ballot shortage.

A total of four items from the No. 2 polling station in the Jamsil 7 neighbourhood, Songpa Ward, will be placed under the order, including the boxes and surveillance camera footage of the polling station, according to the court.

Records of messages and texts sent among employees of the National Election Commission (NEC) when the ballot shortage occurred were also placed under the order, the court added.

However, the court rejected other petitions to preserve evidence, including ballot boxes that were moved to another counting centre.

Ballot shortages were reported at more than a dozen polling stations in Seoul during the local elections, mostly from Songpa Ward of southern Seoul, prompting a temporary suspension of voting.

Protesters have been rallying outside a vote-counting facility in Seoul for the fifth day, demanding a rerun of last week's local elections.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP