South Korea Ballot Shortage Dispute: Taiwan's CEC Chair Says Taiwan Prints Ballots Based on Number of Voters

(Central News Agency, reporter Lai Yu-chen, Taipei, 8th) Following the ballot shortage controversy in South Korea's local elections, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairperson You Ying-lung stated today that Taiwan and South Korea have completely different legal regulations and operational practices. Taiwan mandates that election ballots be printed based on the number of registered voters, not on estimated voter turnout. The CEC will not take the matter lightly and will continue to carry out election affairs according to regulations.

South Korea's June 3 local elections sparked a ballot shortage controversy. According to a report cited by an opposition lawmaker from the election authority, approximately 4,700 ballots were missing on that day. The Central Election Commission issued a press release stating that Chairperson You Ying-lung, along with CEC officials, inspected the Chiayi City Election Commission today and convened a "115-Year Local Public Officials Election Preparation and Business Overview Symposium" to hear progress reports on preparations for the year-end local elections.

Regarding the ballot shortage in South Korea's local elections, Chairperson You stated during the meeting that while South Korea experienced ballot shortages at 67 out of 14,300 polling stations nationwide, Taiwan's legal framework and operational practices are fundamentally different. Taiwan prints ballots based on the number of registered voters, not on estimated turnout. Furthermore, on the day before the election, the chief administrator of each polling station, together with the chief supervisor, jointly checks and counts the ballots one by one to ensure they match the number of voters listed in the electoral register.

You said that Taiwan has not experienced ballot shortages in previous elections, but the matter must not be taken lightly. Vigilance is necessary, and all election work must be carried out strictly in accordance with relevant regulations.

You emphasized that conducting elections with independence, neutrality, fairness, and objectivity is not easy and relies on the efforts of local election commissions and 300,000 election workers nationwide. The 2026 local public official elections are the most important event in Taiwan and must be completed successfully. The central and local election commissions will maintain a partnership to achieve this goal.

The CEC stated that You later visited Chiayi City Mayor Huang Min-hui. The two sides reached a consensus on key issues such as grassroots manpower deployment and cross-agency security coordination for the year-end local elections. (Editor: Lin Xing-meng) 1150608