Election watchdog to allow COVID-19 patients to put votes directly into ballot boxes

The National Election Commission (NEC) decided Monday to allow COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine to put their votes into ballot boxes themselves after an earlier decision to collect their votes in unofficial containers first sparked widespread complaints of foul play.

The election watchdog came under fire following revelations virus-infected voters and people under self-isolation were not allowed to put their votes into ballot boxes and election officials instead collected them in plastic bags and other unofficial containers during early voting Saturday.

The indirect voting sparked suspicions of election rigging, but the NEC has flatly rejected such claims.

On Monday, the NEC held an emergency meeting to discuss the issue and decided to allow virus patients to put their votes into ballot boxes the same way as other voters in the March 9 election after regular polling closes.

Virus patients and those in quarantine can vote from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. after getting temporary leave permits from health authorities before going to the polls.

"Instead of handing their ballots to election officials from temporary polling booths, they can put their votes into ballot boxes themselves," the NEC said. "If voting of regular voters does not end until 6 p.m., virus patients will wait at a separate location outside the polling station and can cast their votes after all regular voters leave the station."

Both Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) earlier slammed the NEC's poor voting operations, while President Moon Jae-in also expressed regret over the controversy.

While the NEC was busy figuring out solutions, the two leading candidates ramped up their campaigning to consolidate support and broaden their appeal to floating voters.

Lee of the liberal DP started the day on the country's southern resort island of Jeju and moved up north to hit major cities.

"State affairs are not a practice field for novice amateurs," Lee said at a rally in Jeju. "What will the country be like if the leader is ignorant, incompetent and irresponsible?"

The former Gyeonggi governor is scheduled to make stops in Busan, Daegu, Daejeon and Cheongju in the afternoon.

DP Chairman Song Young-gil, meanwhile, was attacked by a man in his 70s with a blunt instrument during campaigning for Lee in Sinchon, western Seoul. He was taken to a hospital with a head injury, though officials said it is not life threatening.

Yoon of the conservative PPP focused on campaigning in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province.

The former prosecutor general was scheduled to visit Guri, Hanam, Anyang, Siheung, Ansan, Hwaseong, Osan, and Pyeongtaek.

"You need to be clean and cannot lie to people," Yoon said in Guri. "After watching what the government of the Democratic Party has done the last five years, I feel bad that it is using 'democratic' in its name."

Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party, who dropped out of the race to support Yoon, joined the PPP candidate's rally in Hanam. He is also set to speak for Yoon in Hwaseong.

Meanwhile, Sim Sang-jeung of the minor progressive Justice Party was scheduled to visit Seongnam, Cheongju, Hwaseong, Suwon and Anyang. She will wrap up her daily schedule in Guro district, southwestern Seoul. (Yonhap)