The court visited the polling station where a shortage of ballots occurred during the June 3 local elections but failed to secure any evidence.
Judge Kim Ji-yeon of the Seoul Eastern District Court arrived at the U-Woosung Apartment community center in Songpa District at 3 p.m. on June 10. This location served as the second polling station for Jamsil 7-dong on election day.
Court officials entered the community center carrying a box labeled 'evidence preservation.' After entering, they covered the windows with umbrellas for security reasons while conducting their search.
However, the area had already been rearranged after the voting concluded, and the polling station setup was no longer visible. Ultimately, the court was unable to locate the ballot storage box containing the '1,900 printed ballots' that had been ordered for preservation the previous day.
Judge Kim had to leave empty-handed after 30 minutes of searching. When asked by reporters about any evidence secured, she stated, "I will provide information through the court's public relations office" before exiting the community center.
According to some reports, a representative from the community center explained that after police removed the ballot boxes on June 5, individuals who had blocked the area dispersed, and employees believed to be from the election commission took the storage boxes. An election commission official also indicated that they need to verify the new location of the evidence.
As a result, the court is expected to inquire about the storage location from the election commission. If the commission discloses the storage location, there is a possibility that on-site verification may resume.
Previously, the court had issued preservation orders for not only the storage boxes but also for closed-circuit television footage showing the polling stations and ballot box storage from June 3 at 8 a.m. to June 5 at 9 p.m., as well as records from group chats, messaging apps, and text messages involving election commission staff.
On-site was Kim Jeong-cheol, a senior member of the Reform Party, who had requested the evidence preservation. He told reporters, "I entered to check the box that contained the ballots, but it was not there. Everything had already been cleared out, so I couldn't verify it." He added that the election commission indicated they had no obligation to preserve the items, suggesting that 'someone must have thrown them away.' He stated that he would need to discuss with the judge about reapplying for evidence preservation.
He emphasized, "There are issues related to the infringement of voting rights, equality in voting, and fairness concerning secret ballots. Therefore, I plan to actively raise these comprehensive issues to secure evidence," announcing his intention to file an election appeal around June 15.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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