Korea's general election sets democracy model during pandemic
A voter puts ballots into a ballot box in a polling station at Deokyang-gu Office in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, April 10, the first day of the two-day early voting period ahead of the April 15 general election. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun
This is the last in a five-part series on Korea's response to COVID-19, produced in collaboration with the Korea Foundation ― ED.
By Jung Da-min
Korea's April 15 general election to form the 21st National Assembly drew worldwide attention as it was the first national-level election conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amid the quick spread of the coronavirus, democracy in many countries has faced a crisis as democratic procedures such as voting, assembly and demonstration could not be carried out as normal. But the Korean government decided not to delay the election, by meticulously setting quarantine and preventative measures at voting sites.
Attention was on how Korea's test of democracy would turn out, which could become a role model for other countries. It ended up a great success, with the voting recording the highest-ever turnout in 28 years ― 66.2 percent ― and with not a single virus infection case related to voting reported.
Ever since, the National Election Commission has been receiving inquiries from other countries on its methods of conducting the nationwide election while successfully preventing further infection. It has been holding a series of web seminars to share its experiences with the election.
Cho Joon-ki, deputy director with the NEC, said the election watchdog officials started to come up with detailed quarantine measures around the time the administration raised its national alert level to the highest “red” on a four-tier system, Feb. 23.
“We especially set two principles when setting quarantine and prevention measures to conduct the election amid the COVID-19 situation,” Cho told The Korea Times.
The first principle was “the best quarantine is the best election management.” For example, to minimize possible infections when a large number of people gather in one place, the NEC officials sterilized voting facilities and any related items for casting ballots before and after use. It also prepared protective gear such as face masks, medical gloves, face shields and anti-contamination clothing for NEC staffers who would be overseeing voting processes at polling stations.
National Election Commission officials prepare signs, envelopes and other supplies for a polling station set up in the gym of an elementary school in central Seoul, April 14, a day before the April 15 general election to form the 21st National Assembly. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han
The NEC also focused on promoting special quarantine guidelines for polling stations through various channels including online platforms like YouTube. So before coming to the polling stations, most voters were already aware of the special measures that would be conducted by election staff including checking temperatures, providing disposable plastic gloves and operating a separate booth for those with high temperatures or respiratory symptoms.
The NEC's second principle was to “guarantee everyone's right to vote,” especially those who could not go out due to the COVID-19 quarantine measures ― confirmed patients and self-quarantined people.
“Our concern was how we could guarantee the rights of such people. But we could not revise relevant laws when there were only about 50 days left until the election date,” Cho said. “We tried to make the best use of the current election system. For the COVID-19 patients, for example, we allowed them to register for home voting that had already been used due to other reasons for the disabled and people with limited mobility, while also expanding the registration methods for home voting.”
A voter in traditional Korean clothes gets his temperature checked on April 15, election day, at a polling station set up at an elementary school in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province. Yonhap
But home voting registration was closed by March 28, so those infected after that could not use the system. For those people, the NEC set up temporary polling stations at eight facilities nationwide for patients with mild symptoms during the early voting period between April 10 and 11.
For those in self-quarantine at home after coming into contact with COVID-19 patients or returning from abroad, if asymptomatic, they could cast their ballots at polling stations in their regions during a one-hour window after the regular voting hours ended at 6 p.m.
According to the NEC, the overall turnout reached 66.2 percent, 8.2 percentage points higher than the 58 percent recorded in the previous general election in 2016, and the highest for a general election since 1992. Political watchers attributed the record-high numbers to the high participation in early voting as voters wanted to avoid crowds at polling stations on election day out of fear of infection. The turnout for early voting was 26.69 percent, the highest-ever seen by the system which was introduced in 2013.
National Election Commission staffers sort ballot papers for counting at a polling station set up in a gym in Seoul, April 15, after the general election to form the 21st National Assembly. Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki
Hwang Tae-soon, a political commentator, said positive public opinion of the government's dealing with the COVID-19 situation led to the high turnouts. Korea's virus responses before and around the election were praised globally by governments and overseas media outlets alike. Leaders of many countries have had phone calls with President Moon Jae-in to seek assistance in supplying face masks and test kits as well as learning some of the more novel quarantine measures introduced by Korea, such as drive-through and walk-through testing.
“Many voters seemed to have participated in the voting and voted for the Moon Jae-in government thinking they needed to support it when it was doing a good job in containing the COVID-19 spread. Not only enthusiastic supporters of President Moon but also those not supporting any political sides seemed to have voted for the incumbent government,” Hwang said.
The government's transparent communication with the people by informing and updating them on the spread of COVID-19 and cooperation between the government and private organizations on containing the virus spread were also among the success factors of the April 15 general election, according to political watchers.