사라진 투표함과 멈춰버린 신뢰: 6·3 지방선거 투표용지 부족 사태의 전말 > K-wave Trends

The joint investigation headquarters of the prosecution and police recognized the seriousness of this incident and banned 14 key officials, including former National Election Commission Chairman Roh Tae-ak, from leaving the country and announced an intensive investigation. The fact that even the former chairman, who had already resigned, was converted to suspect status is because we cannot rule out the possibility that this incident is related to suspicions of dereliction of duty or intentional interference with the election by the National Election Commission leadership, beyond a simple mistake by the working staff. The joint investigation agency conducted a surprise search and seizure of seven locations, including the National Election Commission and the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission, and is digging into questions about the decision-making process based on the vast amount of data obtained. In particular, it is expected that a key issue in this investigation will be whether appropriate measures were taken despite being aware of the possibility of a shortage of ballots, or whether the freedom of elections was intentionally interfered with.

Controversy over the National Election Commission's mismanagement is intensifying as it has been revealed that the ballot paper storage box, which was identified as key evidence in the incident, was destroyed just before on-site verification. Although the court partially upheld the evidence preservation order requested by Kim Jeong-cheol, a member of the Supreme Council of the New Reform Party, the fact that the box could not be found at the scene makes it difficult to avoid criticism that this is an act of neutralizing the judicial process. Although the National Election Commission explained that the relevant box was not subject to legal storage and was disposed of according to normal procedures, it is unclear that items with high evidential value were immediately disposed of without judicial confirmation. Accordingly, the court is increasing the level of pressure on the National Election Commission by ordering the submission of information on waste disposal companies, timing of removal, and CCTV footage.

Meanwhile, the situation took a new turn when YouTuber Jeon Han-gil, a former Korean history instructor, claimed to have secured one of the lost ballot boxes. Mr. Jeon has set out to prove that the National Election Commission's claim of destruction is false by disclosing the box he obtained through a tip, and is maintaining his strong stance that he will submit it to the investigative agency as evidence. If the items secured by Mr. Jeon are confirmed to be the originals used at the actual polling place, the reliability of the election management process as a whole, as well as the circumstances surrounding the disposal of the National Election Commission, will suffer a fatal blow. Currently, the National Election Commission is countering that the items secured by Mr. Jeon are different from those ordered by the court to preserve evidence, but various suspicions, such as the discrepancy between the quantity indicated on the outside of the box and the actual number of voters, remain unresolved.

The gap between the National Election Commission's management guidelines and the actual situation at the polling place is also a major cause of growing distrust in this situation. The number of voters at the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong exceeded 3,800, but the suspicion that only 1,900 ballot papers were prepared, which is half of that, is raising fundamental doubts about whether the guidelines were followed. The court decided to dismiss the application for verification of ballots and ballot boxes on the grounds that there was a lack of need for evidence preservation, but kept the investigation alive by citing fact-finding and an order to submit CCTV to reveal the whereabouts of the ballot boxes and how they were disposed of. The continued citizens' protests and blockades at Olympic Park's handball stadium and other places are a clear example of how deep the public's doubts about the legitimacy of the election results are.