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The National Election Commission on Tuesday proposed to the National Assembly amending the election law so Koreans temporarily staying abroad can vote. If the bill passes, 1.1 million more people will be entitled to vote. Under current law, absentee ballots can only be cast in Korea. The NEC made the same proposal in 2003, but the National Assembly rejected it citing budgetary constraints and difficulties in ensuring transparency. But this time, both ruling and opposition parties support the change.
The votes of 1.1 million overseas absentees could be a big variable in next year¡¯s presidential election, given that the gap between the winner and loser was a mere 390,557 votes in the 1997 presidential election and 570,980 votes in 2002. The beneficiaries will be temporary overseas residents aged 19 or older with Korean citizenship and a residence at home, including diplomats, corporate representatives, students studying overseas, tourists and soldiers. But ethnic Koreans in China and Japan and holders of foreign citizenship or permanent residents abroad will not benefit from the new measure. An NEC official said temporary overseas residents would be able to vote by mail or at voting booths set up at overseas missions.
The Uri Party¡¯s chief policymaker Kang Bong-kyun said many Uri lawmakers support the change since it is ¡°natural to guarantee the voting right of people who pay tax.¡± Uri Party spokesman Woo Sang-ho agreed that that allowing overseas absentees to vote is desirable if votes are managed transparently. The main opposition Grand National Party also welcomed the proposal. The Grand National Party's chief policymaker Jeon Jae-hee said the party will discuss the issue at the general meeting of its lawmakers, adding she had been surprised when she first heard that diplomats overseas cannot exercise their right to vote. Grand National Party spokesman Yoo Ki-june said the proposal was in line with global trends, and the Korean election commission was somewhat late in embracing it.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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