Special counsel team moves local election ballots to storage from handball arena

Special counsel Lee Tae-han’s team moved ballot boxes from the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in southeastern Seoul to storage on Thursday after inspecting ballots in an investigation into shortages during the June 3 local elections. The team examined 2.47 million ballots cast in Songpa Ward for more than 12 hours. It took 13 boxes for further inspection based on objections from on-site observers, while the rest were sent to a National Election Commission-managed facility. The team said the examination is not a recount but is intended to determine whether ballots were tampered with or forged.

The ballots were placed in about 420 boxes, with all but 13 moved to the storage facility.

The special counsel team’s inspection continued until past midnight, according to the National Election Commission.

Some voters were forced to leave without voting during the June 3 elections because of the ballot shortage.

Protesters had blocked the ballots’ removal from the gymnasium since June, calling for accountability and a rerun of the elections.

Published Oct 29, 2026 8:31 am KST

Ballot boxes from the June 3 local elections in Songpa-gu are being moved out of the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park following a public inspection by a special counsel team, Thursday. Yonhap

A special counsel team on Thursday began moving boxes of ballot papers to a storage facility after taking them out of a handball arena where they had been kept since June's local elections, as part of its investigation into ballot shortages on election day, officials said.

Special counsel Lee Tae-han's team removed the ballot boxes from the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in southeastern Seoul after conducting an on-site inspection of the 2.47 million ballots for more than 12 hours until past midnight, according to the National Election Commission (NEC), the state election watchdog.

Lee's team has been investigating an unprecedented shortage of ballots that occurred on the day of the June 3 local elections, which forced some people to turn back without casting their votes.

All 2.47 million ballots, which had been cast in the southeastern Songpa Ward, were inspected by the special counsel team and placed in some 420 boxes, of which all but 13 were being taken to a storage facility managed by the NEC in the capital area, a commission official said.

The remaining 13 boxes were taken by the special counsel team, and the ballots inside them will be inspected further based on objections raised by on-site observers.

The gymnasium was used as a vote counting center during the elections, but protesters had blocked the ballots' removal since June amid calls for accountability for the shortage and a rerun of the elections.

Lee's team has said the examination will not serve as a recount of the votes and is aimed at determining whether there had been any acts of tampering or forgery.

特别检察官李泰汉的团队周四将投票箱从首尔东南部的奥林匹克公园手球馆转移至仓库，此前他们已对6月3日地方选举中出现的选票短缺问题进行了调查。该团队在松坡区对247万张选票进行了超过12个小时的检查。根据现场观察员的异议，13个投票箱被带走进行进一步检查，其余的则被送往国家选举委员会管理的设施。该团队表示，此次检查并非重新计票，而是为了确定选票是否被篡改或伪造。

选票被放入约 420 个箱子中，除 13 个外，其余全部被转移到储存设施。

据国家选举委员会称，特别检察官小组的调查一直持续到午夜之后。

由于选票短缺，一些选民在6月3日的选举中被迫放弃投票。

自六月以来，抗议者一直阻止将选票从体育馆移走，他们要求追究责任并重新举行选举。

发布于2026年10月29日上午8:31（韩国标准时间）

周四，在特别检察官小组进行公开检查后，松坡区6月3日地方选举的投票箱正从奥林匹克公园手球馆移出。（韩联社）

官员们表示，周四，一个特别检察官小组开始将成箱的选票转移到一个储藏设施，此前这些选票一直存放在一个手球馆里，自六月份的地方选举以来就一直被存放在那里。此举是该小组对选举日选票短缺情况进行调查的一部分。

据国家选举委员会（NEC，国家选举监督机构）称，特别检察官李泰汉的团队在首尔东南部的奥林匹克公园手球体育馆对247万张选票进行了超过12个小时的现场检查，直至午夜过后，才将投票箱移走。

李的团队一直在调查6月3日地方选举当天发生的史无前例的选票短缺事件​​，该事件迫使一些人放弃投票而返回。

一位选举委员会官员表示，在东南部松坡区投出的全部 247 万张选票都经过了特别检察官小组的检查，并被放入了大约 420 个箱子中，其中除 13 个箱子外，其余的都被运往首都地区由国家选举委员会管理的存储设施。

剩余的 13 个箱子被特别检察官小组带走，其中的选票将根据现场观察员提出的异议进行进一步检查。

选举期间，体育馆被用作计票中心，但自 6 月以来，抗议者一直阻止选票被移走，他们呼吁对选票短缺问题追究责任并重新举行选举。

李的团队表示，此次审查不会作为重新计票，而是旨在确定是否存在任何篡改或伪造行为。