Soldiers from the Ashena unit, a Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan, salute in this file photo. Service men and woman who are stationed overseas are stripped of their voting rights under the current system. / Korea Times file |
By Lee Tae-hoon
Voting is a basic right and an important responsibility that every citizen must have, but there is still a considerable number of people deprived of suffrage, including peace keeping troops stationed abroad.
The country has revived overseas absentee voting but this will not benefit 1,400 troops dispatched in 15 countries, including 336 in Afghanistan and 240 in Haiti due largely to the absence of Korean diplomatic missions near their bases.
Lawmakers have pledged to allow troops abroad to send their ballots by international courier service from their barracks, but there is little sign that they will amend the law any time soon to honor their promise.
Some 10,000 fishermen and sailors far away from Korea will not also be able to take part in today’s elections to select 300 lawmakers. But, they will be allowed to cast a vote via fax for the first time in the upcoming December presidential poll.
As usual, prisoners and those the court has declared to be incompetent, including people in a vegetative state as well as those who have filed for bankruptcy and show no willingness to repay debts, will also be excluded from the electoral rolls.
Those who have been convicted of breaking the Election Law are banned from exercising suffrage for five to 10 years upon completion of their sentence.
Son Ho-young and many other male hallyu stars, who have assumed the role of celebrity diplomats abroad, will not be one of the millions of Koreans who will queue for their chance to select a new parliamentary leader.
Son still remains an American citizen refusing naturalization and not applying for dual citizenship that he repeatedly promised to do so to regain his Korean citizenship.
K-pop singers, such as Tablo, who suffered during a groundless diploma forgery scandal, and Brian of the R&B duo Fly to the Sky, and actors, including Phillip Lee, a star of the hit TV series Secret Garden, are also not Korean nationals.
Many handicapped citizens face great difficulties in exercising their right to vote due to a lack of care.
Im Su-cheol, a manager of the Research Institute of the Differently Abled Person’s Right in Korea, claims that there are at least 52 polling stations in Seoul confirmed inaccessible to physically handicapped people.
He noted that some of the polling stations are not installed on the ground floor and do not have a lift or other methods to allow handicapped people to access.
Im said he found at least eight candidates in Incheon did not provide Braille election materials.
“The voting rights of the disabled are not protected due to the law that allows candidates to choose whether they provide Braille promotional information or not,” she said.
A senior official of the National Election Commission (NEC) explained that many candidates do not bother to produce separate promotional material for visually-impaired citizens as there is no punishment against it and such efforts are time consuming.
Lee Yeon-ju, a chief of the Blind Rehabilitation Center under the Korea Blind Union says that many candidates offer Braille material to the blind and the government pays them back the entire costs incurred in producing them.
“It is difficult to find and compare the pledges that individual candidates have made,” she said, adding that it is very difficult for the blind to get information about the location of polling stations. “I had to make a call myself to the election commission to check where the polling booth is.”
She added the majority of Braille material contain only a portion of information provided in other promotional material, making it difficult for the blind to make a thorough comparison of candidates.
이번 4.11 총선에 투표를 하고 싶어도 못하는 사람들은 누구일까?
먼저 15개 국에 파병된 1,400여명의 장병들이 있을 것이다.
우편 투표가 허용이 안되고 있고 투표소까지 이동 간 테러 위험과 임무 수행을 중단하고 선거에 참여할 수 없기 때문이다.
또한 선거일에 국적 외항선박과 원양어선 등에 승선하는 1만 여명의 선원들도 한 표를 행사 할 수 없게 된다.
올해 12월 대선부터 팩스를 이용한 선상 부재자 투표제가 허용 되기 때문이다.
장애인의 경우 투표소에 승강기가 없거나 투표 안내가 부실해 투표에 어려움을 겪는 경우가 상당 수 있을 것으로 보인다.
사단법인장애우권익문제연구소 소장 임수철은 서울 52군데에서 장애인 투표가 불가하다는 결과가 나왔다며 아직도 투표소를 승강기가 있는 곳이나 1층에 설치해 달라는 요구가 잘 반영이 되지 않고 있다고 주장했다.
한국시각장애인연합회 중도시각장애인 재활지원센터 이연주 팀장 선고 홍보물에는 투표소 위치 정보가 나오는데 상당 수 후보들이 점자형 홍보물을 만들지도 않고 또 만들어도 투표소 장소에 대한 정보를 기재하지 않고 있어 선관위에 전화를 해서 장소 확인해야 하는 경우가 상당 수 있다고 말했다.
이렇게 국민의 기본 권리인 선거를 하고 싶어도 못하는 사람들이 있는 반면 상당수의 한류 스타들의 경우는 외국 국적을 가지고 있어 이번 선거에 한 표를 행사 할 수 없게 될 것 같다.
가수 손호영의 경우 미국 국적을 포기하고 귀화를를 하겠다고 수 차례 밝혔지만 아직도 미국 국적을 유지하고 있다.
학력 논란으로 몸살을 앓았던 타블로도 캐나다 국적이고, 배우 이필립, 가수 브라이언 등 병역 회피논란에서 결코 자유롭지 않은 다른 한류 스타들도 외국 국적을 가지고 있어 이번 선거에 참여할 수 없게 된다.
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