SEOUL: The head of South Korea´s election commission resigned on Friday, hours after riot police cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station following a near two-day blockade sparked by a ballot paper shortage during local elections.
Wednesday´s election was the first nationwide vote since President Lee Jae Myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration.
Lee´s ruling Democratic Party swept most races but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat.
The National Election Commission (NEC) said late on Friday that 50 polling stations nationwide had been affected, including more than 30 in Seoul.
It had already apologised after earlier saying 14 polling stations in Seoul ran short of ballot papers, blaming a failure to anticipate turnout.
The agency´s chairperson, Rho Tae-ak, resigned over the furore, saying there is “no excuse for the occurrence of an unacceptable incident” that “infringed upon the people´s precious right to vote”.
However, he did not mention the possibility of a re-election.
NEC official Yoon Jae-soo said ballot papers were printed for 50 per cent of eligible voters because an increase in early voting turnout in recent elections had resulted in large numbers of unused ballots.
Some polling stations stayed open until 10 pm (1300 GMT) on Wednesday to accommodate voters, but the move did little to quell criticism of the commission´s handling of the election.
