South Korea election protests continue over ballot shortages, protesters demand rerun

Election protesters were locked in a tense standoff with sports officials Tuesday as their blockade of a gymnasium used for the June 3 local elections continued for the 12th straight day. Members of organizations under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee attempted to enter the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Seoul's southern Songpa Ward starting at 9 a.m. but were blocked by protesters demanding a rerun of the elections tainted by unprecedented ballot shortages at 26 voting stations across the nation. The sports organizations have been unable to access their offices housed inside the gymnasium since June 5, when the protesters began the blockade to prevent the removal of ballot boxes that were brought there for vote counting. The vote count for the local elections has already been completed. During the standoff, some protesters initially agreed to forming a monitoring team composed of an equal number of police officers and sports organization staff to oversee activities inside the gym. The agreement later fell through due to fierce backlash from other protesters. Police officers made

Protests demanding a re-run of last week's local elections marred by ballot shortages continued for the ninth day Saturday morning, though participants decreased sharply compared with the previous night. About 700 protesters chanted slogans and waved national flags around SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul's southern district of Jamsil as of 9 a.m., down from some 8,000 people gathered Friday night. The protests were sparked by the unprecedented ballot shortages in the June 3 mayoral and gubernatorial elections. According to the National Election Commission, voting was suspended at 26 polling stations across the nation and some voters were reported to have returned home without casting their votes due to the lack of ballot papers. The protests had grown to some 30,000 people, many of them in their 20s and 30s, last weekend, but has since gradually decreased, with many older people replacing younger voters at weekday rallies. The NEC has maintained the ballot shortages neither warrant a re-run nor altered the election results. President Lee Jae Myung has promised a thorough probe and m

Protesters continued to rally outside a vote-counting facility in Seoul for the fifth day Tuesday, demanding a re-run of last week's local elections over ballot shortages at some polling stations. As of 10 a.m., some 200 protesters surrounded SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa Ward, according to an unofficial police estimate. The number was sharply down from about 2,000 on Monday afternoon. Tens of thousands of people had amassed at the stadium over the weekend to protest the ballot shortages and block election officials from removing ballot boxes. The lack of ballot papers temporarily suspended voting at 26 polling stations nationwide on Wednesday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC). While the protests over the weekend had largely focused on demanding a new election, protesters claiming electoral fraud could be spotted Tuesday, with signs that read, "Stop the steal." Under the election law, a petition must be made to the election watchdog to invalidate a local election and run a new election. If the election watchdog rejects the petition, a lawsuit can be filed in c

Hundreds of protesters rallied for the fourth straight day Monday outside a vote-counting facility in Seoul, demanding a new election over ballot shortages during last week's local elections. As of 11:35 a.m., approximately 1,600 protesters surrounded SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa Ward, according to an unofficial police estimate. The number was sharply down from the 8,000 gathered around midnight Sunday but up from the 950 tallied earlier in the morning. The protests have continued after voting was temporarily suspended at 22 polling stations nationwide Wednesday due to a lack of ballot papers, according to the National Election Commission (NEC). Protesters blocked the stadium's 10 entrances to prevent the removal of ballot boxes. Members of a women's youth national handball team could be seen pleading with protesters outside the gymnasium to let them inside to retrieve equipment for a training session, which was moved to a nearby facility due to the blockade. The team is scheduled to compete in the 25th IHF Women's U20 Handball World Championship in Jinzhong, China, later this

Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul’s affluent Songpa District has become the epicenter of democratic activism. Tens of thousands of voters, around 40 percent of them millennials and Generation Z, have gathered there every day since Thursday, the day after the June 3 local elections, demanding a rerun of the Seoul mayoral election. Their collective action followed a shortage of ballot papers at a polling station in Songpa District, where voters were forced to wait in long lines and cast their ballots after the official voting deadline. Some returned home without voting, while others waited until as late as 10 p.m. to cast their ballots, four hours after the scheduled closing time. The extended voting hours, conducted without prior notice, sparked outrage. Compounding the problem, exit poll results were released at 6 p.m. by the three major broadcasting networks — KBS, SBS and MBC — while voting was still underway in Songpa. As a result, some voters cast their ballots after becoming aware of the projected outcomes. This constituted a serious breach of election law, which prohibits

Hundreds of protesters rallied for a fourth straight day Monday outside a vote-counting facility in Seoul, demanding a new election over ballot shortages during last week's local elections. As of 9:30 a.m., approximately 950 protesters surrounded SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa Ward, according to an unofficial police estimate. Protesters blocked the stadium's 10 entrances to prevent the removal of ballot boxes. It marked a sharp drop in the number of protesters after around 8,000 people gathered around midnight Sunday. The protests have continued after voting was temporarily suspended at 22 polling stations nationwide on Wednesday due to a lack of ballot papers, according to the National Election Commission (NEC). Protesters have demanded a re-run of the local elections, with some claiming electoral fraud. The police have deployed around 350 personnel to the scene to prevent accidental clashes. As part of an investigation into the ballot shortages, the police said they have secured chat room records of election officials and questioned election workers and people who were unable to