SEOUL: Thousands of South Koreans continued to protest on Saturday over ballot paper shortages that disrupted this week’s local elections, with demonstrators demanding a new 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 martial law declaration in late 2024.

Lee’s ruling, 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.

The NEC said ballot papers were printed for only 50 percent of eligible voters because there were large numbers of unused ballots in recent elections due to increased early voting.

On Saturday evening in Seoul, about 10,000 people were gathered at the SK Olympic Handball Stadium, where ballots from the elections had been counted, Yonhap reported, citing an unofficial police estimate — figures that could not immediately confirm with South Korea’s Korean National Police Agency.

Live local media footage showed protesters shouting “re-election, re-election” while waving national flags and singing the national anthem.

Wednesday’s election problems had triggered a 35-hour blockade of a polling station in Seoul, with protesters preventing authorities from removing two ballot boxes for counting. Riot police dispersed the protesters on Friday morning, with videos on social media showing officers dragging an elderly man across the floor and clashing with demonstrators.

Despite NEC chairperson Rho’s resignation later that day, protesters regrouped at the SK Olympic Handball Stadium, demanding a new election and a thorough investigation.

Former president Yoon — now jailed and on trial for insurrection — claimed after declaring martial law that the NEC had ignored warnings about North Korean threats to voter data and failed to cooperate fully with intelligence agency inspections. Yoon’s claims resonated with right-wing YouTubers and supporters, who spread unverified election fraud theories online and questioned the commission’s credibility.

Analysts say the NEC, a constitutional body with limited external oversight, has long faced gaps in internal discipline and review mechanisms.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2026