More civil servants to face questioning over ballot shortage in local elections

by Park Jong-ho Posted : June 22, 2026, 11:30Updated : June 22, 2026, 11:32
Investigators with a joint police-prosecutor task force leave the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, on June 11 after a search and seizure related to the June 3 local election ballot shortage. They are carrying seized materials.
Investigators conduct a raid on the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on June 11, 2026. Yonhap
SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - More civil servants are set to undergo questioning on Monday over irregularities and disruptions caused by a shortage of ballot papers during this month's local elections.

About eight local government officials are set to appear for questioning by a joint task force of investigators formed to probe the June 3 local elections.

They are believed to have handled ballot distribution at two polling stations in southern Seoul where the shortage occurred.

Investigators are expected to determine what happened on election day and whether the National Election Commission (NEC), which oversees the country's elections, responded properly.

The probe comes after investigators raided the NEC's office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on June 11 and questioned several district officials a week later who worked at polling stations in Jamsil and Songpa, where the shortage was reported.

The scope of the probe also includes allegations that some ballot storage boxes were discarded after election day and claims that some senior NEC officials took trips unrelated to their official duties, along with lax work practices and lapses.