March 22 to 26 Period for Home and Shipboard Voting Application and Campaign Material Postal Request 

Special training being conducted to prevent false registrations and illegal proxy voting targeting 8,557 institutions and facilities nationwide 

After home voting applications and initial investigation, final investigation of suspicious and false reports

The National Election Commission (NEC) of the Republic of Korea announced registration for advanced forms of voting, including home voting via post for voters who are residing at a hospital or cannot leave another type of residency due to physical disabilities, and shipboard voting via shielded fax for those who are at sea, will be open from March 22 to 26.

In addition, soldiers and police officers living in barracks or stationed on military vessels who are participating in early voting can apply to receive campaign materials of the candidates from their constituency during the same period.

In particular, during these elections the NEC has designated additional remote islands where it is possible to take part in home voting (Increased from 31 to 51) and has prepared various methods to increase participation targeting shipboard voters such as expanding those eligible to use shipboard voting to those who are scheduled to be aboard a ship and ensuring the voting rights of those who return to Korea before the shipboard voting day. 

Those that plan to vote via post from their residence or another location must register for home voting

Home voting is prescribed in the Public Official Election Act for voters who cannot visit either early voting or election day polling stations, and is a system which allows them to postal vote from their place of residence. 

The followings are eligible for home voting: 

• A person who has a serious physical disability who cannot leave their residency.

• A person in a hospital, nursing home, various types of camp, prison or detention center. 

• Soldiers or police officers living in barracks or stationed on a military vessel who are stationed too far from either an early voting or election day polling station to practically be able to participate in voting. 

• A person residing on a remote island designated by the regulations of the NEC.

Those who wish to take part in home voting should fill in an application and submit it to the relevant Gu/Si/Gun office head according to their ID number either by post or in person. 

The NEC encourages any voter who plans to send their home voting application by post to send the application by March 25 at the latest in order to meet the deadline of March 26, 6pm. 

The home voting application form can be found at Gu/Si/Gun offices, Eup/Myeon offices and Dong community centers nationwide and can be downloaded from the NEC and Gu/Si/Gun office homepages.

Meanwhile, the NEC has been conducting special training and distributing posters and leaflets since February on home voting applications and the home voting process at 8,557 institutions and facilities that will be used by home voters in order to prevent false reports or illegal proxy voting. 

In addition, the NEC has announced that it is planning to conduct checks and investigations, such as a complete check of received applications to ensure the applicant themselves completed the form, targeting institutions or facilities where there are suspected cases of false applications of illegal proxy voting. If a person has made a home voting application in violation of the law, they can receive a punishment of at most three years in prison or a fine of up to five million won (USD $4,300).

It is now possible for sailors who are scheduled to be at sea to apply for shipboard voting and for voters who applied for shipboard voting but return to Korea before April 5 to vote domestically.

Shipboard voting is available for persons who are on the following ships under a captain who is also a Korean citizen: 

• Aboard a deep-sea fishing ship, passenger ship or freighter ship originating from Korea

• A sailor who either is scheduled to be aboard a ship originating from outside Korea or who is currently aboard a ship

This election is the first time that expanded even to those who are expected to be aboard a ship. Also any sailor who had applied for shipboard voting but became not be able to participate in ship boarding as the one  arrives back in Korea before the shipboard voting day, April 5 can vote on election day if he/she reports their early arrival to the  Gu/Si/Gun Election Commission in their registered address.  

Those voters who plan to use shipboard voting should fill in an application and submit it to the relevant the head of Gu/Si/Gun local government in the jurisdiction of their registered address on their ID. Sailors already aboard a ship may submit the application by fax and those who are scheduled to be aboard a ship may send it by post or submit it in person. 

Soldiers and other relevant voters who are participating in early voting who wish to receive campaign materials by post can apply on the internet or in writing

Since soldiers or police officers living in barracks or stationed on military vessels who are participating in early voting are not able to receive candidates’ campaign material, they should apply to receive campaign material by post through the NEC homepage or apply in writing to the relevant Gu/Si/Gun Election Commission. Application through the NEC homepage is available from March 19, three days earlier than scheduled.

The NEC expects to give the best support possible to active soldiers by making applications to receive campaign material more convenient through the use of the Internet on PCs at the military compound.

In addition, even in the case a voter could not apply to receive campaign materials, in order for voters to be able to check the policies and pledges of candidates, the NEC will make them available online at http://policy.nec.go.kr. It is scheduled for all candidates’ campaign materials to be uploaded onto the site and the NEC encourages everyone to vote after carefully checking the political parties’ and candidates’ policies and pledges.