Officials remove an election-related banner at the Football Center in Seoul, Jan. 7. Yonhap

Eleven voters for the upcoming election for the national Olympic committee president have jointly filed for an injunction to stop the proceedings, citing infringements on their voting rights.

Lee Ho-jin, president of the Korea Ice Hockey Association (KIHA), and 10 other voters for the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) presidential election applied for the injunction at the Seoul Eastern District Court on Tuesday. The 11 officials are among 2,244 voters chosen to cast their ballots for the election scheduled for next Tuesday in Seoul.

The incumbent chief Lee Kee-heung is pursuing his third term and he is up against five candidates, including the 2004 Olympic men's table tennis champion Ryu Seung-min.

The six candidates are scheduled to give their final speeches starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday, and the voting is scheduled to run for 2 1/2 hours afterward.

Lee Ho-jin claimed Wednesday it won't give voters nearly enough time and it will be difficult for some voters living far away from Seoul to arrive on time to cast their ballots.

"For the KIHA president election, voting was open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I thought the KSOC election would be similar," Lee said. "But when I got the election brochure in mail, I realized there's going to be very tight window. And most voters living well outside Seoul aren't aware of this. If only those living in and around Seoul get to vote, then it will seriously damage the fairness of the process. This way of voting goes against the tide of the time."

Lee added that the National Election Commission, which is overseeing the process, should have implemented online voting or set up voting stations outside the capital region.

"I wonder why candidates have not raised issues with the process," Lee said. "If our injunction is not granted, then we will file another suit to nullify the result of the election."

Another major election in South Korean sports this year, that for president of the Korea Football Association (KFA), was halted Tuesday, the day before it was scheduled to take place, after the Seoul Central District Court granted an injunction filed by Huh Jung-moo, one of three candidates. Huh questioned the transparency and fairness of the election management process by the KFA in the days leading up to the vote, and the court sided with the former men's national team head coach.

Huh applied for his injunction on Dec. 30 and the court announced its decision eight days later.

With only six days to go before the KSOC election, the Seoul Eastern District Court is faced with a time crunch.

Lee Jung-ho, an attorney with the Seoul-based law firm Chunwoo who filed the injunction on the voters' behalf, admitted the court may not have enough time to deliberate on the case, but it was important to highlight problems with the election.

"This is an important election that selects the person who will oversee South Korean sports. But it's questionable whether voters' opinions have been fairly reflected in the election setup," the attorney said. "They should allow for at least a full day of voting time. Many voters with day jobs will not be able to travel from outside Seoul. It's a major problem when they are only going to let people vote onsite." (Yonhap)