Election watchdog reviewing plan to allow in-person voting for COVID-19 patients after 6 p.m.

Workers put up a poster at the National Election Commission building in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Feb. 7. Yonhap

Korea's election watchdog will propose a plan to allow in-person voting for COVID-19 patients after 6 p.m. in the upcoming presidential election amid concerns that the ongoing pandemic could affect hundreds of thousands of voters casting their ballots.

Under current election rules, it is virtually impossible for those who are diagnosed with COVID-19 after the early voting period ― March 4 and 5 ― and people who go into self-isolation just before the March 9 presidential election to cast their votes.

To solve the problem, the National Election Commission (NEC) is considering allowing infected people to cast their votes after 6 p.m. on the March 9 election day and the last day of early voting, March 5.

In order to cast their votes, virus patients and quarantined people need to get temporary leave permits from the health authorities. The NEC's plan will be discussed at a National Assembly Political Reform Committee meeting later in the day.

The NEC estimates it would cost 8.5 billion won ($7.1 million) to allow COVID-19 patients and people in self-quarantine to cast their votes.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) have said they will discuss revising the Election Law in a way that allows infected people to vote separately from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. March 9.

The DPK will also propose a revision that makes patients eligible for mail-in voting, while the PPP will call for the establishment of temporary polling stations and other facilities for patients to cast their votes.

Since both parties agree on people with COVID-19 participating in voting, the revision is widely expected to be approved in an Assembly plenary session Monday.

Korea's new COVID-19 infections have been soaring due to the highly infectious Omicron variant, which has become the country's dominant strain, with daily cases exceeding 35,000 in the past four days.

The government expected that the daily tally may reach 130,000-170,000 later this month.

With growing concerns that the ongoing virus situation may prevent many people from casting their votes, President Moon Jae-in called for measures to guarantee voting rights of virus patients and people in self-isolation Tuesday. (Yonhap)