Confirmed Case Voting Conducted in Calm Atmosphere... No Confusion Occurred

On the 9th, the day of the 20th presidential election, COVID-19 positive voters are casting their precious votes at Yeomni-dong 2nd polling station set up at Hanseo Elementary School in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Byungseon Gong, Daehyun Kim, Gyumin Oh, Seoyul Hwang] "Are you confirmed positive?"

"Yes."

"Confirmed. Please enter."

The COVID-19 confirmed voter polling for the 20th presidential election, held from 6 PM on the 9th, proceeded in a calm atmosphere. At the polling stations in the Seoul metropolitan area visited by our reporters, no confusion occurred unlike the chaos during the early voting held over two days from the 4th.

At 6:15 PM at the 4th polling station in Huigyeong 2-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, about 15 voters were entering the polling station one by one following the election staff's guidance. Voters showed a text message confirming a positive PCR test result, and election staff wearing protective suits processed their entry. Unlike early voting, there were no complaints such as voters receiving ballots but leaving without voting due to long waiting times.

At the same time, the 3rd polling station in Imun 1-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, had a similar atmosphere. When election staff asked, "Did you receive the entry text?" voters showed their smartphones. There was no waiting line. The 4th polling station in Chang 2-dong, Dobong-gu, was also quiet, with one voter entering every 10 minutes. Election staff advised voters leaving after voting, saying, "Please go straight home."

However, some polling stations experienced minor confusion. At the quiet 4th polling station in Chang 2-dong, a voter who forgot their smartphone at home could not verify their confirmed status, causing friction with the election commission. The voter said, "I was embarrassed to be a confirmed case and wanted to finish voting quickly and leave, but I waited for 20 minutes because I forgot my smartphone. I was angry because they blocked my entry even though verification should have been possible inside the polling station."

At the 2nd polling station in Sadang 4-dong, Seoul, a general voter was unable to vote and had to leave. The voter arrived before 6 PM but waited in the confirmed/quarantine voter line and missed the voting time, losing the chance to cast their precious vote. The voter protested to the election staff, saying, "Does this make sense?" but since only confirmed cases were allowed entry after 6 PM due to COVID-19 infection concerns, they had no choice but to leave.

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