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Cha Gyu-geun, chief of the Korean Immigration Service, explains the suspension of short-term visas and visa-free entry for foreign nationals at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul on Apr. 9. (Yonhap News)

Early voting for the election of the 21st National Assembly is taking place over the two-day period from Apr. 10 to 11. Between 6 am and 6 pm, people will be able to cast votes at any one of 3,508 polling stations established nationwide, regardless of their place of residence. In the case of voters who are currently self-isolating over concerns about spreading or becoming infected with the novel coronavirus, early voting has become more difficult – as it would be difficult to ascertain and manage the movements of people in self-quarantine.

But the South Korean government has decided to temporarily lift self-quarantine restrictions on the main voting date of Apr. 15 to allow those in self-quarantine to also exercise their right to vote. The National Election Commission (NEC) plans to provide separate busy-wait spaces at polling stations for the estimated 70,000 South Koreans in self-isolation, allowing them to vote after the polls close for other voters at 6 pm.

With many voters likely to prefer early voting amid the coronavirus outbreak as a way to avoid crowds of people on election day, the ruling and opposition parties focused their campaigning efforts on Apr. 9 to urge their supporters to vote. Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan encouraged voting in a message sent to party members that day reading, “If we do our best in the remaining time, I think we can capture more than 130 [local constituency] seats. Early voting tomorrow and the day after tomorrow will be especially crucial.”

Lee himself cast an early vote on Apr. 10 in Daejeon, where a meeting of the party’s election measures committee was held. The United Future Party (UFP) also urged supporters to take part in early voting. The UFP has been actively promoting early voting with its members and supporters through the distribution of early voting promotion materials and “news cards.”

The NEC urged voters to “wear masks, refrain from conversation at the polling stations, and keep a distance of at least 1m from others.”

By Hwang Geum-bi and Noh Hyun-woong, staff reporters

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]