"Voting Age Already Lowered to 18"… Election Law Unconstitutionality Lawsuit Dismissed

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The constitutional complaint challenging the old Public Official Election Act, which restricted voting rights to those aged 19 and above, has been dismissed. The rationale is that since the minimum voting age has already been lowered to 18, there is no need to determine its constitutionality.

On the 3rd, the Constitutional Court announced that it unanimously dismissed the constitutional complaint filed by Mr. A and others regarding Article 15 of the old Public Official Election Act and Article 49, Paragraph 1 of the Local Education Autonomy Act.

Mr. A and others filed the constitutional complaint arguing that the provisions granting voting rights only to those aged 19 and above in elections for the President, National Assembly members, heads of local governments, and council members violated fundamental rights. They also stated that other countries recognize voting rights for those under 18 and that lowering the voting age is a global trend.

However, the Constitutional Court dismissed the petition on the grounds that the voting age was lowered to 18 through amendments to the Public Official Election Act and related laws on January 14. The court's reasoning was that "with the amendment of the Public Official Election Act, the unconstitutionality based on the 19-year-old minimum voting age standard claimed by Mr. A and others has already been resolved," and it is unlikely that similar restrictions on fundamental rights will be repeatedly imposed.

Furthermore, the court explained, "For a constitutional complaint to be valid, there must be an interest in protecting rights not only at the time of filing but also at the time of the decision. If the legal provisions subject to the constitutional complaint are amended after the filing so that they no longer apply to the petitioners, the subjective interest in protecting rights disappears, making the constitutional complaint inadmissible."

The Constitutional Court added, "Of course, even under the amended Public Official Election Act, those under 18 still cannot exercise voting rights. However, this is a matter concerning whether the new voting age standard complies with the Constitution, so the judgment regarding the old Public Official Election Act does not hold significant constitutional meaning."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.