Photo : YONHAP News
Public backlash over a ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections continued to grow Sunday, with demonstrations entering a third consecutive day near a vote-counting center in Seoul’s Songpa District.
Protesters have remained near Olympic Park, which served as a counting center, demanding a new election and questioning the integrity of the voting process.
Although ballots cast at a polling station in Jamsil 7‑dong were fully counted on Friday, the ballot boxes have reportedly not yet been transferred to election authorities.
The crowd, estimated by police at around 30-thousand people on Saturday, briefly thinned during the early morning hours Sunday but began growing again after sunrise.
Participants carrying South Korean flags and hand‑held signs have surrounded entrances to the counting center, vowing to block the removal of ballot boxes. Many protesters appeared to be in their 20s and 30s.
Most election officials who had been stranded inside the counting center for nearly a day since vote counting began Friday have reportedly left the facility. Police continue to maintain a security presence amid concerns that larger crowds could gather.