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Thousands of South Koreans continued to protest on Saturday over ballot paper shortages that disrupted this week’s local elections, as calls for a new vote rapidly grew.
The Wednesday election marked the first nationwide vote since President Lee Jae Myung took office following the late 2024 ouster of conservative Yoon Suk Yeol over his brief martial law declaration.
Lee’s ruling, the liberal Democratic Party won most of the races but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat.
The widespread public outrage forced National Election Commission (NEC) chairperson Rho Tae-ak to resign on Friday.
The commission admitted that the shortages affected 50 polling stations nationwide, including more than 30 in the capital, because officials printed ballots for only 50 per cent of eligible voters under the assumption that high early voting rates would leave numerous ballots unused.
According to a Yonhap report citing an unofficial police estimate, approximately 10,000 people gathered at the SK Olympic Handball Stadium in Seoul on Saturday evening, where workers had previously counted the election ballots.
Live local media footage showed demonstrators waving national flags, singing the national anthem, and shouting “re-election, re-election.”
The voting disruptions had earlier triggered a tense 35-hour blockade of a Seoul polling station, where demonstrators blocked authorities from removing two ballot boxes for counting.
Riot police eventually dispersed that crowd on Friday morning, with social media videos showing officers clashing with demonstrators and dragging an elderly man across the floor.
Despite Rho’s resignation later that day, the protesters regrouped at the stadium to demand a new election and a thorough investigation.
The mishap has heavily damaged the credibility of the NEC, a constitutional body that analysts say has long suffered from gaps in internal discipline and limited external oversight.
Former president Yoon—who remains jailed and on trial for insurrection—had claimed after his martial law declaration that the NEC ignored intelligence warnings regarding North Korean threats to voter data.
Those claims previously resonated with right-wing YouTubers and supporters, who spread unverified election fraud theories online.
Commenting on the current crisis, political analyst Park Sang-byung told AFP that the NEC’s mistake was completely unacceptable, warning that compromises to election integrity threaten the foundation of democracy and create a desperate need for strict accountability.
