NEC tries to straighten out early voting kerfuffle

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Published: 07 Mar. 2022, 19:16 Updated: 07 Mar. 2022, 19:34

NEC tries to straighten out early voting kerfuffle

A National Election Commission (NEC) official monitors early voting ballot boxes for the March 9 presidential election from the election watchdog’s control center in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, Monday. [NEWS1]

The National Election Commission (NEC) said Monday that Covid-19 patients and those undergoing quarantine will be able to cast their votes directly into ballot boxes for the presidential election Wednesday, responding to an uproar over procedures during early voting on Saturday.

Confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients will be able to cast ballots at their local polling stations from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., after all other voters, said the NEC.

The NEC has been under fire since the early voting, which took place on Friday and Saturday. Covid-19 patients and people in quarantine were allowed to vote Saturday, but they were not allowed to place their ballots into official ballot boxes. Instead, election staffers collected the ballots in cardboard boxes, plastic containers and shopping bags to transfer them into ballot boxes.

The Covid-19 patients and quarantined people were asked to vote in an area separate from regular voters for safety reasons.

But the Covid-19 patients and quarantined voters wondered whether their votes were being cast properly — whether they actually reached the ballot boxes — and some suspected vote rigging.

The NEC apologized Sunday for poor management but stressed that the polling method was conducted "in accordance with the laws and regulations." It dismissed accusations of electoral fraud.

Korea saw a record early voting turnout of 36.93 percent over Friday and Saturday ahead of the March 9 presidential election. Covid-19 voters were able to cast their votes from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, but were forced to wait in long lines, usually outside, at temporary polling booths to keep them separate from regular voters. This quarantine measure forced election staffers to collect their votes separately in makeshift containers and transfer them to official ballot boxes.

The Public Official Election Act stipulates that "two ballot boxes shall not be used at the same time at each voting district."

Election authorities said they were following regulations. Some voters claimed they were deprived of their right to put the ballot in the ballot box.

Both ruling and opposition parties criticized the NEC, saying it had plenty of time to prepare for the surge in coronavirus cases due to the Omicron wave.

After the Monday meeting, the NEC announced that voters with Covid-19 or undergoing quarantine will be able to cast their votes in the same manner as general voters, directly into ballot boxes.

Covid-19 patients and people under quarantine are required to get temporary permits from quarantine authorities in advance to go out to vote on Wednesday.

If regular voters do not exit the polling station before 6 p.m., the Covid-19 voters are expected to wait in a separate location until the regular voters leave.

Health authorities recommended Covid-19 voters to head out after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, taking into consideration the time it takes to get to polling stations.

Jeong Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), recommended that Covid-19 patients wear KF94 masks at all time, travel to polling stations by personal vehicles or quarantine taxis and avoid unnecessary contact or conversation with anyone.

Civic groups filed complaints with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Sunday and Monday, accusing NEC chairperson Noh Jeong-hee and others election officials of abuse of power, negligence of duty and violation of the Public Official Election Act. Noh was accused of not even showing up for work Saturday, despite being in charge of early voting.

Kim Gi-hyeon, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), called for Noh's resignation Monday.

Lee Nak-yon, the DP's campaign chief, said in a campaign committee meeting that the NEC's explanation for the early voting confusion was "insincere."

An early voting ballot box is spotted stored in the Jeju Election Commission’s secretary general’s room instead of the advance voting storage room in Udo-myeon, Jeju City, Saturday. [YONHAP]

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]