Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Hurdles remain for voters with disabilities in Korea
Voters with developmental disabilities hold a press conference in downtown Seoul, Thursday, to demand election accessibility. Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
Activists, lawmakers demand disability-inclusive elections
While Koreans headed to early voting stations for the June 3 presidential election on Thursday, a sizable segment of the electorate — voters with disabilities — confronted persistent barriers to accessing crucial election information and casting their ballots at polling sites.
As of 2024, about 2.64 million Koreans — 5.1 percent of the population — have disabilities. According to the National Election Commission (NEC), this group has a high turnout rate of around 70 percent in elections. However, they still face significant barriers to fully exercising their political rights.
Structural impediments have ignited frustration and a renewed call for action from disability rights advocates.
“The voting rights of people with developmental disabilities remain barred, but we will not just sit and wait here. Guarantee our rights to cast ballots!” a group of voters with developmental disabilities and disability advocacy activists said during a press conference in downtown Seoul, Thursday.
The group called on the government to make elections more inclusive for people with disabilities by providing assistance such as picture-based voting equipment at polling sites, creating easy-to-understand voter guides and holding mock elections. Currently, the law allows only voters with physical or visual impairments to be accompanied by an assistant.
On May 9, the group requested presidential candidates and their election camps provide easy-to-understand election information. The Democratic Party of Korea, the minor progressive Korean Democratic Labor Party (KDLP) and the Jinbo Party accepted the request.
The group’s efforts follow Rep. Seo Mi-hwa of the DPK’s March proposal to mandate the publication of disability-inclusive election booklets to protect the political rights of voters with developmental disabilities. However, the amendment is still pending in the National Assembly.
Last December, Seoul’s high court ordered the provision of voting equipment displaying candidates’ photos and party logos to assist voters with developmental disabilities. However, the case was appealed by NEC and is now before the Supreme Court, leaving ballots without photos for the time being.
Voters with disabilities participate in early voting for the 21st presidential election at Juan-3-dong village office in Incheon, Thursday. Newsis
Of the 3,568 polling stations nationwide for the June 3 presidential election, 198 are not wheelchair-accessible. These stations are located above the second floor of buildings without elevator access, according to NEC data obtained by Rep. Seo.
The NEC said it will set up temporary voting booths on the first floor at polling stations without lifts.
Election information is also not fully accessible to blind voters, said Rep. Kim Yea-ji of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), the nation’s first female lawmaker with a visual impairment, Thursday.
All six presidential candidates for the June 3 race submitted election booklets in Braille and digital formats, according to information Kim obtained from the NEC. These formats enable voters with visual impairments to access candidate information.
While this marks an improvement from the 2022 presidential election — when some candidates paid fines because they submitted only paper booklets that were inaccessible to people with visual impairments — disabled voters say the materials still need upgrades to be truly inclusive.
For example, the digital booklets were saved in various file formats that are incompatible with text-to-speech programs, according to interviews Rep. Kim conducted with blind voters.
Election information leaflets on presidential candidates running for the June 3 election are packed into envelopes at a community center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, May 18. Yonhap
Additionally, the NEC limits the length of Braille booklets and does not specify which information must be included beyond basic details provided by candidates, such as profession, academic background, assets, taxes, military service and criminal records.
“Access to election information for voters with visual impairments is gradually improving, but the quality still needs work,” Kim said. “It’s essential to enhance accessibility using diverse media like QR codes and to revise the NEC’s disability guidelines by incorporating the voices of blind voters.”
Korea signed and ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008. The treaty guarantees people with disabilities the right to exercise their political rights on an equal basis with others.