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'Shouldn’t there be enough ballots?' Voters frustrated by paper shortages at polling stations.

Published: 03 Jun. 2026, 20:55

Voters cast their ballots after 6 p.m., the official voting deadline, at a polling station in southern Seoul on June 3 due to an earlier ballot shortage. [YONHAP]

Voting for the local elections was temporarily disrupted at several polling stations in Seoul and Incheon on Wednesday after stations ran out of ballots, resulting in waits of more than an hour for some voters.

More than 10 polling stations across the districts of Gangnam, Gwangjin and Songpa in Seoul and Yeonsu District in Incheon ran short of ballots on Wednesday afternoon, according to police and election officials.

The affected polling stations in the Gangnam, Gwangjin and Yeonsu districts had resumed voting and finished by 7 p.m., but some polling stations in Songpa were still voting as of 7:30 p.m. as they received additional ballots late. Although most voters were instructed to wait until extra ballots arrived, some chose to leave rather than remain in a long line.

“I waited more than an hour after arriving at the polling station at 5 p.m., and the queue barely shortened,” said Kim, a woman who visited Garak 2-dong’s No. 3 polling station in Songpa District.

“The polling staffers just kept telling us to wait without explaining what was happening. It was incredibly frustrating,” she said, adding that election officials did not inform voters of the ballot shortage until about 30 minutes later.

A waiting ticket with No. 47 is issued to a voter who arrived at a polling station in southern Seoul after the ballots shortage happened. [KIM YE-JUNG]

Another voter showed a numbered waiting ticket bearing the number 47, confirming that she had arrived before the polls closed.

“I waited for a long time before they finally handed this to me as the voting deadline approached at around 6 p.m.,” she said.

Similar scenes unfolded at Cheongdam-dong’s No. 4 polling station in Gangnam District in southern Seoul. Voters who had endured hours of delays expressed their frustration to the JoongAng Ilbo.

“[The staffers] said there are no available ballots and made me wait an hour,” another voter, surnamed Oh, said. She arrived at the Cheongdam-dong polling station at 5 p.m.

“They ran out of ballots around 3:30 p.m. and brought in more, but those ran out too. Then they had to bring in a second supplementary batch. It’s unbelievable,” Oh added.

Another voter from the same neighborhood said they had been voting for 40 years and had never seen anything like it.

Polling stations in Songdo 5-dong and Dongchun 1-dong in Yeonsu District were provided with additional ballots by the National Election Commission (NEC).

Voters queue until extra ballots arrive at a polling station in southern Seoul on June 3. [NEWS1]

Some voters said the shortages ultimately deprived them of the chance to vote.

A voter, surnamed Kim, said she arrived around 5 p.m. and waited about 30 minutes before leaving briefly for another commitment, while her mother remained in line.

“The staffers said my mother couldn’t receive a waiting ticket on my behalf,” she said. “Although I rushed back around 6:10 p.m., I failed to get a ticket and eventually lost my chance to vote.”

Another voter who requested anonymity said they had initially left the polling station after being told to wait, only to return after 6 p.m.

“When I returned after 6 p.m., the staffers said I could not vote if I didn’t have a waiting ticket,” the anonymous voter said. “In the end, I was not able to cast my ballots.”

Several voters said the confusion was worsened by inadequate communication from NEC officials.

Voters queue at Cheongdam-dong's No. 4 polling station in southern Seoul, which did not have enough ballots for the local elections on June 3. [HAN CHAN-WOO]

Seo Kyeong-hee, 42, said she had traveled from Gangwon to Seoul solely to vote, as voters on Election Day must cast their ballots at designated polling stations in their registered constituencies.

“When I arrived at 4:30 p.m., I was told that only nine ballots remained and only nine more people would be able to vote,” Seo said. “People started to complain when election officials told the voters that they might not be able to cast their ballots before 6 p.m.”

Another voter in his 40s said he saw the long line through his apartment’s window and decided to wait a while before heading to the polling station. Once he came down to vote, he was told that he “could not vote without a waiting ticket.”

“Surely they could have warned people,” he said.

The disruptions also drew attention on social media.

One user posted a photo from the No. 5 polling station in Jamsil 4-dong and expressed frustration at a long wait due to ballot shortages.

A social media post alleges a ballot shortage [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“How is it possible that people are being forced to wait because there are no ballots?” the user wrote. “Does this situation commonly happen?

Another user reported finding a long line upon arriving at their polling station at 5 p.m. “I was able to vote at 5:20 p.m.,” the user said. “Shouldn’t there be enough ballots for every registered voter?”

Voters look at their waiting tickets after being instructed to queue until extra ballots arrive at a polling station in Songpa District in southern Seoul on June 3. [YONHAP]

The NEC acknowledged that it had underestimated ballot demand. The NEC was set to issue a public apology at 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

“The turnout had exceeded expectations compared to previous elections, and caused ballot shortages at some polling stations,” an official from Seoul city’s Election Commission said.

“District-level election commissions are transporting reserve ballot supplies to polling stations in question,” the official said. “All voters who entered polling stations before 6 p.m. will be allowed to cast their ballots.”

As of 5 p.m., voter turnout stood at 57.4 percent, 9.8 percentage points higher than the 47.6 percent recorded at the same time during the previous local elections in 2022.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY OH SAM-GWON, KIM YE-JUNG, HAN CHAN-WOO [[email protected]]

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'Shouldn’t there be enough ballots?' Voters frustrated by paper shortages at polling stations.

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