The Election Commission Abandons Temporary Polling Stations for Confirmed Cases... "Voting at Regular Polling Stations on the 9th" (Comprehensive)

Confirmed cases vote at general polling stations from 6 PM to 7:30 PM
Waiting until general voters finish voting before casting their vote

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The National Election Commission has decided that COVID-19 confirmed patients will vote in the same manner as general voters at designated times to resolve issues found during the early voting process. The method of voting at a temporary voting booth and then having an election official transport the ballot box has been abolished.

On the 7th, the Election Commission held a full committee meeting and announced new measures for voting by COVID-19 confirmed patients.

Confirmed patients can vote at the polling station under the jurisdiction of their registered address on the main voting day, the 9th, after obtaining temporary permission to go out from health authorities, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM as before. However, instead of the previous method where they voted at a temporary booth and an election official delivered the ballot box, they will now vote at the polling station just like general voters.

If general voters have not finished voting by 6:00 PM, confirmed patients will wait in a separate waiting area and will begin voting only after all general voters have left. Regarding this, the Election Commission plans to deploy additional personnel and reserve voting booths in this presidential election to ensure that general voting finishes early. They intend to increase the number of voting booths to reduce the waiting time for confirmed patients by enabling general voters to finish voting sooner. Concerning the waiting area, they stated, "It may vary depending on the conditions of the polling station," adding, "It could be indoors if possible, but depending on the building situation, it might be outdoors."

Election officials will change shifts and wear protective suits after 6:00 PM to prepare for confirmed patients' voting.

An Election Commission official said, "If confirmed patients come out early, they may have to wait a long time," and added, "We plan to discuss with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency to adjust the permitted outing time to after 5:30 PM."

The Election Commission explained, "If confirmed patients arrive by 7:30 PM and receive a waiting ticket, the polling station will not close until they finish voting."

The Election Commission stated, "To address issues raised during early voting, we will make every effort to accurately convey the voting procedures on election day through various programs, subtitles, and advertisements on TV, radio, newspapers, and other media."

Regarding the controversy during the early voting process on the 5th, the Election Commission said, "The chairman and all commissioners deeply feel responsible, and we will thoroughly identify the causes and establish measures to prevent recurrence."

Meanwhile, the Election Commission explained that the ballots distributed during early voting were due to "reusing envelopes," and "there were unintentionally ballots inside the envelopes."

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