Dos and don'ts on Election Day

A National Election Commission staff member shows a stamp prepared for the 20th presidential election, at a polling station set up for the two-day early voting period on Friday and Saturday, at Seoul Station, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps

• Published Mar 4, 2022 12:50 PM KST
• Updated Mar 6, 2022 12:43 PM KST

By Jung Da-min

With the country's 20th presidential election set to take place on March 9, there are several things that voters should be aware of when casting their ballots.

First of all, some minor candidates, including Kim Dong-yeon of the New Wave and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party, have withdrawn their candidacies with less than a week left before Election Day.

On Wednesday, Kim announced his withdrawal and unification of candidacy with Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. A day later, Ahn also held a press conference to announce his withdrawal and unification with Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party.

Following the two candidates' withdrawals, the NEC has put “withdrawal” marks on the ballots to be used for the two-day early voting period, Friday and Saturday, when they print them out at the polling stations. But the election watchdog has said they cannot do the same on Election Day, as the ballots for March 9 have already been printed out. The NEC will instead put up notices about the withdrawal of the two minor candidates at the polling stations on Election Day.

This situation means voters will have to be more careful when casting their ballots so that they do not vote for those who have already withdrawn from the race, as their votes will be invalid in such cases.

But another problem has arisen. For those living abroad who took part in the six-day early voting period for Korean nationals overseas from Feb. 23 to 28, their votes have become invalid if they voted for candidates who have since stepped down.

According to the NEC, about 161,000 voters ― or 71.6 percent of the total 226,000 who had registered for early voting overseas ― cast their ballots, from 219 polling booths in 115 countries around the globe.

Some have raised the issue to the presidential office by writing a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, saying the country needs to establish a law banning candidates from withdrawing after the overseas early voting period, to guarantee that the votes of people living abroad are not invalidated.

There are also several new conditions under which this year's presidential election is taking place.

It is the first presidential election since the country lowered the legal voting age to 18 from 19 through the passage of a revision bill to the Public Official Election Law in the National Assembly in late December 2019.

According to the NEC, the number of voters aged 18 or 19 is about 980,000, accounting for about two percent of the total 44,197,692 voters.

The NEC has also strengthened quarantine measures for voters at polling stations. Voters are required to abide by several guidelines, such as: wear a face mask, get their temperatures checked wear disposable plastic gloves provided at the polling stations and socially distance themselves from the other voters.

For those who are positive for COVID-19 and are currently in quarantine, they must vote only at a certain designated time and show a text message with special permission from the public health authorities for them to go outside, when arriving at polling stations to cast their ballots.

Those who test positive for COVID-19 before the two-day early voting period should be able to cast their ballots at separate polling booths on Saturday.

Those who test positive for the virus after the early voting period ends will be able to cast their ballots on March 9, between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The normal voting time for general voters is between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The additional voting time for COVID-19 patients has been introduced after the National Assembly passed a revision bill of the Public Official Election Law in mid-February to guarantee citizens' voting rights.

Considering the current trajectory of the daily number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the number of those who test positive for the virus between March 5 and 9 after the early voting period ends could be about 1 million, about 2.2 percent of the total number of voters, or even higher.

There are also several things voters should not be doing at polling stations.

Voters are not permitted to take photos or record videos of the ballots when they are voting inside polling booths, nor are they allowed to upload such photos or videos on social media or online communities.

Such acts would be in violation of Public Official Election Law Article 166, which prohibits photography of ballots, and Article 167, which guarantees privacy in voting.

Journalists should also be careful not to publish photos of ballots that show a voter's choice.

For those who want to take photos at polling stations, they are allowed to do so only in some designated photo zones outside polling booths or at the entrances of polling stations.

For those who want to share their choice of candidate, they are permitted to make a hand signature to indicate the voting number of the candidate, or take photos of themselves in front of the promotional campaign posters or election materials of a certain candidate. They can also share such photos online or send them to other people through social media.

Acts of damaging election facilities including ballots, or any violent behavior against NEC staff at polling booths, are prohibited under the law. Those who violate the law are subject to imprisonment for a minimum of one year and a maximum of ten years, or a fine of minimum 5 million won and maximum 30 million won.