South Koreans protest over ballot mishap, demand local election rerun
SEOUL – Thousands of South Koreans were demanding a rerun of local elections as they protested into the wee hours of yesterday over ballot paper shortages that disrupted this week’s vote. Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since President Lee Jae Myung took office following conservative Yoon Suk Yeol’s ouster over his brief declaration... The post South Koreans protest over ballot mishap, demand local election rerun appeared first on New Era .
SEOUL – Thousands of South Koreans were demanding a rerun of local elections as they protested into the wee hours of yesterday over ballot paper shortages that disrupted this week’s vote. Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since President Lee Jae Myung took office following conservative Yoon Suk Yeol’s ouster over his brief declaration of martial law in late 2024. Lee’s ruling, the liberal Democratic Party won most races but failed to flip the key Seoul mayoral seat.
National Election Commission (NEC) chairperson Rho Tae-ak resigned on Friday after public outrage over ballot paper shortages that the commission said affected 50 polling stations nationwide, including more than 30 in the capital. On Saturday evening in Seoul, about 10 000 people gathered at the SK Olympic Handball Stadium, where ballots from the elections had been counted, Yonhap reported, citing an unofficial police estimate. By 2:00 am yesterday, at least 1 000 protesters, many in their 20s and 30s, were still at the site, waving large national flags and chanting “Re-election, re-election,” an AFP journalist saw.
