South Korean Ruling party signals support for Seoul ballot recount
· UPIJuly 7 (Asia Today) -- South Korea's ruling Democratic Party signaled Tuesday it would accept a review of 2.47 million ballots stored at Olympic Park in Seoul after ballot shortages disrupted the June 3 local elections.
The National Election Commission reported to a parliamentary investigation committee that it could conduct a public recount and verification process at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium before moving the ballots to the commission's headquarters in Gwacheon.
The ballots include those from the Seoul mayoral election, Songpa District Council races and Jamsil 7-dong polling stations. They have remained at the gymnasium for more than a month after protests outside the venue prevented their transfer to the election commission's headquarters.
Han Byung-do, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party, said during a party meeting that the ruling party would "actively review" a recount plan pursued by the parliamentary committee.
It was the first time the Democratic Party publicly expressed willingness to consider a recount. Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the opposition People Power Party, who chairs the committee, has called for bipartisan agreement on a recount.
The National Election Commission also reported a plan to verify and move the ballots. The commission said the prolonged storage of ballots in a temporary location had raised public concern and suspicion and that the gymnasium should be restored to its original use.
Under the proposed plan, about 440 personnel would be deployed for a verification process expected to take about nine hours. Members of the parliamentary committee, observers and the media would be allowed to monitor the process.
After verification, the ballots would be sealed and transported in enclosed vehicles to the commission's headquarters in Gwacheon. One observer recommended by each party represented in the National Assembly would monitor the transfer.
The commission also proposed placing special seals signed by transfer observers on entrances to the counting site and installing closed-circuit cameras inside and at entrances for continuous recording.
The commission said police crowd-control measures would be essential for the verification process, apparently reflecting concern that protesters outside the gymnasium could oppose the recount or transfer.
-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260708010002690