Ensure free, fair election
NEC should prevent recurrence of poor handling
Today is an important day as Koreans vote to elect a new president who will run the country for the next five years. It is all the more so because the nation stands at a crossroads: to move forward toward a better future or step backward to the bad old days. That’s why all voters should go to polling stations without fail.
Most of all, the election authorities should spare no efforts to ensure a free and fair election. It also must go all-out to prevent a recurrence of mishandling of the ballots of COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine as seen during the early voting period on Saturday. The National Election Commission (NEC) has invited criticism for not allowing those voters to put their votes into ballot boxes after marking their ballot papers at separate polling booths.
The NEC let election officials collect their votes in paper bags, cardboard boxes and even plastic trash bags. It is unprecedented for voters not to put their votes directly into ballot boxes. It is a clear violation of the basic principle of secret ballots. Some pandemic patients even received ballots that had already been filled out with a mark showing support for a specific candidate.
Such poor management of voting operations cannot and should not be condoned in any circumstances. More regrettable is that the NEC gave a belated apology in a reluctant manner, caving in to mounting public backlash. The NEC should conduct an internal probe to find out what caused the improper handling of the ballots. It should also be subject to an investigation by the prosecution as civic groups filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office over the matter.
The NEC cannot shirk responsibility for its lack of preparation to handle the soaring number of voters infected with COVID-19 or undergoing quarantine. Many of those voters had to wait an hour or two outside in the cold weather to vote at makeshift polling booths. It was wrong to allow them to start voting at 5 p.m. while other voters were still present.
President Moon Jae-in expressed regret over the incident. The ruling and opposition parties slammed the NEC for its inadequate preparation and negligence. Then the NEC apologized for its mistakes and announced measures to allow pandemic patients and those in quarantine to place their votes into ballot boxes themselves on election day. Their voting hours are set at 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., after regular polling ends. Yet it is necessary to extend the voting hours if virus patients rush to polling stations.
As seen by the record turnout in the early voting period, the people are showing great interest in this presidential election. According to the NEC, 36.93 percent of 44.2 million eligible voters cast their ballots last Friday and Saturday. It is imperative to ensure a free and fair election, particularly when the race is neck and neck between Lee Jaemyung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).