SEOUL, June 18 (Reuters) – South Korea’s parliament on Thursday launched a 45-day parliamentary investigation into the National Election Commission after ballot-paper shortages disrupted voting in the June 3 local elections, approving the plan at a plenary session.
The ballot paper fiasco has triggered protests, the resignation of the NEC chief and calls from President Lee Jae Myung for a thorough investigation.
The special parliamentary committee will examine the NEC and regional election commissions over what lawmakers described as infringements of citizens’ voting rights and the need for election-management reform.
The investigation panel comprises lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party, main opposition People Power Party (PPP) and from minor parties, with PPP lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun set to chair it.
“The fact-finding investigation is not the end, but the beginning,” National Assembly speaker Cho Jeong-sik said.
“The parliamentary investigation should identify the causes and lead to election management reform measures that the public can trust.”
On Wednesday, NEC acting secretary-general Kang Dong-wan told protesting university student representatives the commission felt “devastated” by its inadequate preparation and would cooperate with the parliamentary inquiry, a joint police-prosecution investigation and its own audit.
An NEC official said on Wednesday ballot shortages occurred at 91 polling stations nationwide, with voting briefly suspended at 26 during the local elections.
In Seoul’s Songpa district, one polling station halted voting at 4:46 p.m., resumed at 5:39 p.m. and finally closed at 10 p.m. to allow some 175 waiting ticket holders to vote, but 12 voters who had received waiting tickets did not return, the NEC official said.
Reporting by Joyce Lee Editing by Ed Davies.
