▲ Protesters chant slogans at a rally denouncing a shortage of ballot papers during the June 3 local elections outside the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul's southern ward of Songpa, which served as a vote counting site, on June 14, 2026. (Yonhap)
▲ President Lee Jae Myung (Yonhap)
▲ Police investigators enter the National Election Commission's headquarters in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, on June 11, 2026, to search for evidence as part of an investigation into shortages of ballots that suspended voting at 26 polling stations nationwide, including mostly in the capital's Songpa Ward, during the June 3 local elections. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) president-ballot shortage

(LEAD) Lee says accepts complaints about voting rights infringement, but rejects election fraud claims

(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in last 2 paras; ADDS photos)

ROME, June 14 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung said Sunday that he accepts complaints about voting rights infringement over the unprecedented shortage of ballots in the recent local elections, but rejected claims of election fraud, arguing such claims skew the true nature of the issue.

Lee made the remarks during a meeting with his top aides held remotely from Rome, where he is visiting as part of a broader European trip.

"I acknowledge and accept all of our people's fair complaints about voting rights infringement," Lee said.

"It is absurd and I am taken aback that such an incident took place amid what can be said to be the foundation of democracy," he added, referring to the shortage of ballot papers in the June 3 local elections that reportedly left some voters to leave without casting their ballots.

The National Election Commission has acknowledged that more than two dozen polling stations nationwide had experienced temporary suspension of voting due to ballot shortages.

A group of people have been staging protest rallies at a vote counting station in eastern Seoul for 10 consecutive days, which at one point drew over 15,000 people, according to unofficial police estimates. The protesters have demanded a re-run of the elections, while some argue the ballot shortages were part of a broad election fraud scheme.

The president dismissed such claims, calling them a distortion of the issue and an anti-social crime, saying those who commit such crimes must be held accountable.

"Spreading allegations of election fraud and (raising accusations of) election result manipulation are tantamount to distorting the essence of the matter and constitutes anti-social behavior that insults the precious voice of the people," he said.

The president called for a speedier and more thorough investigation into the ballot shortage case by the ongoing joint prosecution-police probe, as well as the National Assembly, which is set to launch a parliamentary investigation committee later this week.

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