[W Forum] The Right to Vote for Persons with Disabilities Is a Legitimate Right and Duty Guaranteed by the Constitution

Published 28 Mar.2022 08:21(KST)

All citizens of the Republic of Korea have the right to elect the president, members of the National Assembly, and local government heads in accordance with the suffrage guaranteed by law. The voting rights of persons with disabilities are not only rights guaranteed by the Constitution but also obligations of the state and local governments as stipulated in the Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities. However, more than 2.6 million people with disabilities in our country are still raising their voices to ensure their rightful voting rights. Suffrage goes beyond simply casting a vote; it is a process through which individuals’ judgment and self-determination influence the political process that governs the country, thereby recognizing themselves as political agents and equal members of the community and owners of the state.

Therefore, it means receiving equal information and appropriate accommodations throughout the entire process, not just stamping a ballot. Since the early 2000s, specific demands for realizing the voting rights of persons with disabilities have continued without interruption, and their "legitimacy" has been proven through recommendations by the National Human Rights Commission and court rulings. Sharing a deep understanding of the need for proper accommodations in exercising voting rights, I immediately proposed an amendment to the Public Official Election Act upon entering the National Assembly to abolish the page limit for election brochures for the visually impaired and to provide audio or digital document files on storage media for visually impaired persons who cannot read braille. This amendment passed the plenary session in December 2020 and has been implemented since the 2021 by-elections.

Additionally, in 2021, I proposed another amendment to the Public Official Election Act to include developmental and autism spectrum disorders under the types of mental disabilities eligible for voting assistance. Although this amendment is still pending in the National Assembly, on February 25, just about ten days before the presidential election, the Seoul Central District Court decided to mediate the ‘temporary measure application for voting assistance’ in a discrimination relief lawsuit filed by persons with developmental disabilities seeking protection of their voting rights. As a result, persons with developmental disabilities were able to receive voting assistance starting from this presidential election.

While various changes have been made to guarantee the voting rights of persons with disabilities, many challenges remain. Despite the flexible improvement of the page limit to suit the characteristics of braille, some have tried to meet the page limit of twice that of the booklet-type election brochure by including content not found in the booklet or unnecessarily dividing paragraphs to artificially increase the volume. There have also been issues where the enclosed USB storage media was not recognized by PCs or other devices, or the stored files could not be accessed.

Contrary to the mediation decision by the Central District Court on February 25, unresolved issues remain, such as persons with developmental disabilities not receiving proper assistance or having to endure long explanations and proof by accompanying family members or support workers before being able to vote. Beyond legal and institutional improvements, meticulous field investigations, monitoring, prior education, and a reorganization of societal awareness and ethical consciousness regarding disabilities are necessary. Those responsible for planning and establishing policies related to persons with disabilities must listen attentively to voices from the field with the urgent awareness that “persons with disabilities are not strangers whose lives briefly pass by me, but neighbors who may be experiencing what I or my family could face in the future.”