Wrong ballots handed out, disputes over companion entry into voting booths; officials cited for inadequate manual training

A participant examines a braille ballot at a mock early voting session ahead of a policy forum on voting rights for disabled citizens, held at the Irum Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on June 10. [Yonhap]
A participant examines a braille ballot at a mock early voting session ahead of a policy forum on voting rights for disabled citizens, held at the Irum Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on June 10. [Yonhap]

Numerous cases of confusion in managing votes cast by elderly and disabled citizens were confirmed during the June 3 local elections, which were already marred by a ballot shortage.

Separate voting management manuals exist for disabled and elderly voters, but training for polling station staff is conducted by each district and municipal election commission without any oversight from the National Election Commission, leaving wide gaps in how well individual stations understood the guidelines.

According to data the National Election Commission submitted to People Power Party lawmakers Ju Jin-woo and Kim Ye-ji on Friday, multiple polling stations caused confusion when managing disabled and elderly voters due to insufficient familiarity with the guidelines and poor on-the-spot responses.

The commission's manual covers procedures for guiding disabled and elderly voters, providing voting assistance and accessibility equipment, using braille voting aids for the visually impaired, and operating specialized marking tools.

Voting records from Polling Station No. 8 in Segok-dong, Gangnam-gu, obtained by Rep. Ju, show that a visually impaired couple arrived to vote but found their braille voting aids had been misprinted, forcing them to rely on a polling official for assistance.

One of the two refused to trust the official and called an acquaintance to accompany them into the voting booth. A station official, uncertain how to proceed, contacted the election commission and was told the vote would be valid, resolving the standoff.

At Polling Station No. 4 in Suseo-dong, Gangnam-gu, a visually impaired voter reported that the braille on their voting aid read "Gangbuk-gu" instead of "Gangnam-gu," and the matter was reported to the election commission.

A separate document on complaints from visually impaired voters obtained by Rep. Kim confirmed additional cases: braille printing errors on voting aids for the Seoul superintendent of education race, a braille misprint in Gangnam-gu's fourth electoral district, a defective voting aid for the Ulsan superintendent of education race, and braille typos on voting aids in Daejeon.

In Sejong, staff directed voting assistance information to a companion rather than the voter. In Gyeonggi Province, a voter at an early voting station was incorrectly directed to the absentee voting system.

At Polling Station No. 7 in Jangji-dong, Songpa-gu, a son brought his visually impaired elderly mother to vote, but staff could not respond immediately. Calls to the Songpa-gu election commission went unanswered, and only after reaching the National Election Commission was the son permitted to assist his mother in casting her ballot.

At Polling Station No. 3 in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, an elderly mother and her son attempted to enter the voting booth together. Staff explained that joint entry was permitted only for voters with physical disabilities and could not be granted on grounds of illiteracy alone. The son protested strongly, saying his family had voted together for 10 years, and left after casting only part of his ballot.

When the son later learned his partial ballot had been ruled invalid, he filed a complaint with the election commission, returned to the station and was allowed to vote again.

At Polling Station No. 6 in Jamsil 3-dong, Songpa-gu, records show that a wheelchair user and their assistant received the first ballot together, while only the wheelchair user received the second ballot. How the situation was ultimately resolved was not reported.


dingdong@heraldcorp.com