▲ Paper slips with a message calling for a new election are attached on a ticket box as protesters continue to stage a rally in front of the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium, used as a vote-counting facility, in Seoul's Songpa Ward on June 8, 2026, over an unprecedented shortage of ballot papers that disrupted voting in the June 3 local elections at some polling stations in the capital's southern areas. (Yonhap)

election watchdog chief-resignation

Supreme Court chief justice accepts election watchdog head's resignation amid ballot shortage controversy

SEOUL, June 8 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court chief justice has accepted the resignation of the head of the country's election watchdog, sources said Monday, following an unprecedented shortage of ballot papers that disrupted voting in some areas of Seoul during last week's local elections.

According to the sources, Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae dismissed Roh Tae-ak, chairperson of the National Election Commission, from his post amid public backlash over the commission's poor handling of ballot distribution for June 3 local elections.

Roh offered to resign Friday, saying he feels "deeply responsible for the whole situation."

Ballot shortages were reported at more than a dozen polling stations in Seoul during the local elections, including in the southeastern districts of Songpa and Gangnam, prompting temporary suspensions of voting there.

Some voters reportedly left without casting their ballots after waiting in long lines.

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