Seoul: Court officials on Wednesday failed to secure a key piece of evidence at a polling station site in Seoul in connection with a shortage of ballots during last week's local elections.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul Eastern District Court had ordered the preservation of evidence on Tuesday related to the ballot shortage at the site in Jamsil, Songpa Ward. This included a container for ballot papers prior to the votes being cast. The container is considered crucial evidence in the case, as it was labeled to contain only 1,900 ballots, which is below the required 50 percent minimum for the area's 3,856 eligible voters.

Despite efforts, officials were unable to locate the container during their inspection of the site. A National Election Commission (NEC) official informed Yonhap News Agency by phone that the election watchdog did not possess the container and would need to investigate its location.

The situation escalated on Friday when police intervened to break through a group of protesters at the site to remove two boxes of cast ballots that had not been counted. Protesters had gathered to demand a re-run of the election, citing the ballot shortage as a critical issue. The container, labeled with 1,900 ballots, had been observed at that time, leading to suspicions that election workers failed to prepare the minimum required number of ballots at the polling station.

Court officials are now expected to inquire with the NEC regarding the missing container. Meanwhile, protests continued at a vote-counting facility in Jamsil for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday, with demonstrators demanding a new election.

The NEC reported that the shortage of ballot papers during the June 3 local elections led to a temporary suspension of voting at 26 polling stations nationwide.