KOREANS IN GERMANY CALLS FOR OVERSEAS VOTING

[Anchor Lead]

A large number of Korean citizens living overseas cannot vote in the upcoming general election, after the National Election Commission decided to halt absentee ballot processes in more countries as COVID-19 spreads worldwide.

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​Roughly 85-thousand South Korean citizens in 40 countries will not be able to vote following the National Election Commission's decision. That's nearly half of the 171-thousand Koreans eligible for this general elections' absentee voting. Korean citizens in Germany protested the decision. They filed a constitutional complaint and requested an injunction with the Constitutional Court today. Sixty Koreans plan to take part in the legal action. The suit is to begin first with 25 plaintiffs who were able to submit proper paperwork in time.

[Soundbite] LEE YU-JIN(KOREAN PLAINTIFF LIVING IN BERLIN) : "I believe they didn't make enough efforts to ensure our voting right and find alternatives. It was an unfair, unilateral decision."

The case will be handled by progressive-minded "Lawyers for a Democratic Society," better known as Minbyun. The attorney representing the plaintiffs said the decision to suspend the absentee ballot process is the NEC's unilateral execution of government authority. Koreans living in Germany claim to have inquired the NEC several times about how the overseas voting process would proceed, but never got any answer. Then they received an abrupt suspension notice on March 27, which led them to question how much effort the election oversight body put into ensuring people's right to vote. They also claim that Korean diplomatic offices in Germany didn't take any steps to hear their opinions. They went on to call the government decision a one-sided measure designed to ease administrative workload. Korean citizens in Germany are waging a social media campaign to guarantee voting rights for overseas citizens and have filed a petition with the presidential office to allow mail-in voting.