The National Election Committee building in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi on Aug. 7.NEWS1
Korea's election watchdog rejected a voter's bid to void the Seoul mayoral election over the shortage of ballots and temporary halts during the June 3 local elections. It acknowledged violations of election rules but ruled that they did not affect the result.
The National Election Commission (NEC) reviewed 15 election petitions filed by ordinary voters on Friday. It rejected three after considering their merits and dismissed 12 without considering their merits because petitioners failed to correct deficiencies in their filings, the commission said Tuesday.
The Seoul mayoral petition was among the three denied. A successful petition would have forced a rerun within 30 days of notification. Petitioners whose cases are denied or dismissed can take them to the Supreme Court.
"Election rules were violated in connection with the ballot shortages and suspension of voting," the NEC said. "But those violations cannot be seen as having affected the election result."
Petitions seeking to invalidate the elections for the Seoul and Incheon education superintendents were denied on the same grounds.
Petitions over the Busan mayoral and education superintendent elections and the Gyeonggi gubernatorial and education superintendent elections were among the 12 dismissed.
During the latest local elections that took place on June 3, ballots ran out at some polling places, including in Songpa District, southern Seoul. Voting was temporarily halted at some sites.
More than 100 election petitions were filed nationwide afterward.
Ballot boxes for the June 3 local elections are piled up at Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Jamsil, Songpa District, southern Seoul, on July 2.YONHAP
Incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) took the city by 60,259 votes, or 1.15 percentage points, over Chong Won-o of the ruling Democratic Party. The final count was not completed until June 5, two days after the vote.
The PPP filed petitions over mayoral and gubernatorial races in seven regions: Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon, Ulsan, Busan, Gwangju and North Chungcheong. It also filed petitions in four other regions: Daejeon, South Chungcheong, Sejong and North Jeolla.
The Reform Party filed petitions in 18 races, including the Seoul mayoral election.
Petitions filed by the opposition parties have yet to be decided. The NEC's reasoning in the Seoul mayoral case suggests petitions based on similar ballot-shortage claims could face similar rulings.
BY BAE JAE-SUNG [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
