According to Yonhap News on June 10, the box was included in the evidence preservation request submitted by Kim Jeong-cheol, a senior member of the Reform Party, the previous day. Judge Kim Ji-yeon of the Seoul Eastern District Court attempted to secure the box during an on-site verification but found it had already been discarded.
A representative from the Songpa District Election Commission stated in a phone interview with Yonhap News that the waste disposal company collected the box around noon the day before. The commission received the list of items to be preserved as evidence from the court at approximately 5:30 p.m. that same day, explaining that the disposal occurred before they were aware of the evidence preservation request.
The election commission official said, "If we had known about the evidence preservation request, we would have kept the item, as it could be contentious. We regularly dispose of items that do not have a storage obligation, as many items returned from polling stations accumulate."
The official added, "The box is used for the initial distribution of ballots and is typically discarded by most polling stations. There was no intention to destroy evidence."
The box in question was discovered after police removed two ballot boxes from the Jamsil 7-dong Second Polling Station on June 5. During the verification of items left inside the polling station, it was noted that the box was labeled '1900 copies printed, box 1 of 1.'
The number of voters registered at the polling station was identified as 3,856. Based on the printed quantity indicated on the box, the ballots prepared amounted to approximately 49.3% of the voter count, falling short of the election commission's guideline of at least 50% of ballots printed.
With the news of the box's disposal, the controversy surrounding the ballot shortage is expected to intensify.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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