Photo : YONHAP News
Votes cast by more than two thousand people remained inside a polling station in Songpa District in southern Seoul on Thursday after protesters angered by a ballot shortage blocked election officials from transporting ballot boxes to a counting center.
According to the National Election Commission(NEC) on Thursday, the two ballot boxes at the polling station in Jamsil 7-dong contained votes cast by more than two thousand people.
Given that each voter participated in seven separate elections, including races for metropolitan and local government heads as well as local councils, officials estimated that the boxes contained roughly 14-thousand ballots.
The NEC said it was attempting to persuade protesters to allow officials to open the ballot boxes so that election winners in Seoul and Songpa District could be formally determined.
The commission pledged to investigate the cause of the incident and take steps to prevent a recurrence once the vote count is completed. It also said it would establish an independent fact-finding committee composed primarily of outside experts.