Overseas voting in doubt

Parties must cooperate to introduce viable system 

Korean citizens living abroad have been granted the vote in the Dec. 19 presidential election, following their inaugural ballot-casting in the April parliamentary elections.

But the effectiveness of the overseas voting system is in doubt, because only a fraction of overseas Koreans are registered to vote in the presidential poll.

According to the National Election Commission, about 223,000 overseas Koreans, or 10.01 percent of the 2.23 million eligible voters, registered as voters. This is a dismally low registration rate, raising questions about the need to maintain the system.

True, the voter registration for the presidential race nearly doubled, compared with the April 11 National Assembly elections, when only 5.6 percent of the eligible voters registered. Still, however, the figure is quite disappointing, given the cost of 17.2 billion won.

Moreover, the actual turnout of overseas Koreans is expected to decline further, considering that only half of registered citizens took pains to cast ballots in the April parliamentary poll. More disappointing is that Korean expatriates who have no domestic residence registration numbered only 42,000, or 20 percent of those who registered, with the remaining 80 percent being absentee voters such as diplomats, businessmen, students and travelers.

The overseas voting system was introduced largely to enfranchise Korean emigrants who still hold the right of permanent residency abroad. It followed a 2007 ruling made by the Constitutional Court that it was unconstitutional to deny expatriates the right to vote. Taking this into account there should therefore be remedial measures in one form or another. Last month, the National Assembly passed a bill to amend the relevant law to simplify the registration rule by making it possible for overseas Koreans to register via email, but the change was not enough to raise the registration rate.

The primary reason that overseas Koreans showed a lukewarm attitude toward the new voting system is simple ― inconvenience. The revised Election Law allowed online registrations but still prohibits registration by mail for fear of illegal balloting. This has been the object of criticism because senior citizens unfamiliar with the Internet found it difficult to register.

Still, most potential voters abroad can hardly afford to show interest in the vote due to the inconvenience of having to travel to the nearest Korean embassy or consulate twice, often after driving for hours ― once for registration and the other to actually cast a ballot. As a result, voters living in a country with vast lands, say the United States, are virtually denied the right to vote.

The lion’s share of the blame should be laid on politicians who neglected their duty to introduce a more advanced and convenient voting method. Of course, there are calls to abolish the overseas voting system but this is not simple because it’s a constitutional matter.

Therefore, the ruling and opposition parties must join forces to address this problem. Specifically, they need to show nonpartisan cooperation to introduce a long-running overseas voting system. Introducing mail registrations could be a viable option as soon as the presidential election is over. <The Korea Times>