NEC rejects Seoul mayoral election petition as all 261 challenges fail

The National Election Commission (NEC) rejected 112 and dismissed 149 petitions over the June 3 local elections — including a petition filed by the People Power Party (PPP) over the Seoul mayoral election.

“Voting was suspended at some polling stations in the [June 3] local elections due to ballot shortages, which constituted a violation of election regulations, but the violation cannot be deemed to have affected the election results,” the NEC said on Wednesday.

The 261 petitions included those filed by parties including the PPP, Justice Party, Reform Party and Freedom and Innovation Party. With 112 rejected and 149 dismissed, none were upheld.

Rejected petitions included ones filed over the proportional representation election for the Seoul Metropolitan Council; the Busan mayoral election; the proportional representation election for the Busan Metropolitan Council; the Incheon mayoral election; the proportional representation election for the Incheon Metropolitan Council; the Ulsan mayoral election; and the proportional representation election for the Ulsan Metropolitan Council.

The NEC also rejected petitions filed by the PPP over the Gyeonggi gubernatorial election; the proportional representation election for the Gyeonggi provincial council; the North Chungcheong gubernatorial election; the proportional representation election for the North Chungcheong provincial council; the Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City mayoral election; and the proportional representation election for the integrated city.

Another 14 petitions filed by individual voters over elections including the Seoul mayoral election and superintendent of education elections were previously rejected by the NEC on Friday.

Those who object to the NEC's decisions may file suit in court within 10 days of receiving the written decision.

BY SHIN HYE-YEON [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]