By Jung Min-ho
Koreans living in Auckland, New Zealand cast their votes Wednesday for the presidential election, participating in the first overseas absentee ballot in the nation’s history.
According to the National Election Commission (NEC), 222,389 people in 110 nations are registered to vote at 164 polling stations. In all locations, voting takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will run between four and six days depending on the number of voters residing in each region until the final ballots are cast in Honolulu, Hawaii on Dec. 10.
However, an estimated 2.3 million eligible voters live overseas, meaning the total registered represent around only 10 percent participation in the presidential poll. A total of 19.4 percent of these are permanent residents in other countries, while 80.6 percent are without residency such as students and travelers.
Korean nationals overseas were first allowed to take part in the National Assembly election in 2012. In that poll, 123,571 people registered but only 45.7 percent, or 56,456, of them actually voted.
Although the extension of the franchise to citizens abroad is significant and is expected to become more important in future elections, it is unlikely that it will greatly affect the election result later this month because of the small number of participants.
Moreover, the NEC has set strict restrictions including banning the promotion of candidates, preventing people from easily finding out about those standing and choosing who to vote for.
All overseas ballot boxes must be delivered to Korea by Dec. 16, to be included in the final count on Dec. 19.