Seoul: The National Assembly has commenced formal procedures for a potential parliamentary investigation into the ballot shortages reported during last week's local elections. Requests for the probe were submitted by both the ruling and opposition parties and were reported to a plenary session.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the head of the Proceedings Division of the National Assembly Secretariat stated that the requests for a parliamentary probe were submitted separately by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP). Lawmakers from each party sponsored their respective requests.

This initiative marks a significant step toward forming a special parliamentary committee to investigate allegations of mismanagement by the National Election Commission during the voting process. The establishment of the committee is anticipated to involve negotiations, as the DP and PPP have differing proposals concerning the scope of the probe and the number of seats to be allotted to each party on the committee.

The PPP has proposed that a separate special counsel probe should be conducted alongside the parliamentary investigation. Meanwhile, the DP has suggested considering such a move only after the parliamentary probe is complete.

The investigation stems from reports of ballot shortages at more than a dozen polling stations in Seoul during last Wednesday's local elections. These shortages temporarily disrupted voting and led to protests from individuals alleging election fraud.