헌정 질서의 마비인가, 관료주의의 참사인가: 투표용지 부족 사태가 남긴 뼈아픈 기록 > K-wave Trends

The origin of this situation began with the National Election Commission's decision to drastically lower the lower limit for printing ballots from 60% to 50% through an internal decision-making process last December. This decision, which was made only through internal approval by the Secretary General and the Director of Election Policy, without any formal meetings or sufficient social consensus, resulted in an immediate suspension of voting in areas such as Songpa-gu, where voter turnout was high. The National Election Commission cited the increase in early voting, reduced printing costs, and concerns about loss as reasons, but there was no manual on what to do if there was a shortage of ballots at the site. Even after recognizing the lack of ballots, there was no prompt reporting and response, resulting in voting being halted at some polling places for up to 100 minutes.

Doubts are growing as key evidence proving the seriousness of the situation disappears under the pretext of neglect of management. It is difficult to understand from common sense that the Songpa-gu National Election Commission handed over the ballot storage box in question to a company specializing in disposal of ballots just before the court issued an evidence preservation order and notified it. The National Election Commission explained that it has no legal storage obligation because it is a simple storage box rather than a ballot box, but it is difficult to avoid criticism that this is an action that neutralizes the judiciary's efforts to uncover the truth through securing evidence. In this process, a series of personnel actions to avoid responsibility were made, including Songpa-gu National Election Commission Chairman Min So-young's resignation and dismissal, and the National Election Commission's lax discipline and organizational incompetence were on the chopping block.

The backlash from the civil servant organizations that have been in charge of field work is another aftereffect of this incident. The National Civil Service Workers' Union declared that it could no longer tolerate the deformed structure in which the National Election Commission only exercised its authority and passed responsibility for on-site accidents to local government officials. Civil servants mobilized for election work have so far endured with a sense of duty, but now they are strongly demanding fundamental system improvement and the introduction of electronic voting, even mentioning refusal of election work. This proves that the National Election Commission has been buried in the customary way of handling business while cutting off communication with field managers, and suggests that the election management system is virtually on the verge of collapse as the number of leavers within the organization rapidly increases.

In order to determine the truth of the current situation, a truth-finding committee composed of external experts was launched, and the joint investigation headquarters of the prosecution and police began a full-scale investigation. The fact-finding committee, led by Chairman Cho Hyun-wook, defined this incident as a crisis in the constitutional order that violated the people's right to vote, and promised to come up with a groundbreaking reform plan for the overall election management system, regardless of whether it is progressive or conservative. The police are also securing CCTV footage from polling places to closely analyze the specific situation at the time and any flaws in the reporting system. However, as the ruling and opposition parties are predicting a political battle by mentioning a government investigation and a special prosecutor, the conflict surrounding this incident is expected to spread to the issue of fundamental redesign of the election management system.