NEC ON VOTING FOR COVID-19 PATIENTS

[Anchor Lead]

The National Election Commission has laid out measures to prevent mishaps that took place during early voting for COVID-19 patients. On election day on Wednesday, infected voters will be allowed to enter polling stations after all regular voters leave. They can cast their ballots in exactly the same way as regular voters - by directly inserting them in ballot boxes.

[Pkg]

When early voting was held three days ago, infected voters cast their ballots at makeshift polling stations. Their ballots were collected into paper or plastic boxes and later inserted into ballot boxes on their behalf. This triggered harsh criticism over the violation of confidential and direct voting rules.

[Soundbite] Lee Nak-yon(DP Election Committee Chief) : "The NEC should come up with measures and seek understanding and forgiveness from the public."

[Soundbite] Kwon Young-se(PPP Election Committee Chief) : "The government's personnel system is unprecedentedly out of order."

The NEC has issued an apology and laid out measures for election day on Wednesday. Voters infected with COVID-19 will be allowed to cast their ballots at regular polling stations like everyone else.

[Soundbite] Kim Jae-won(NEC) : "Infected voters will cast ballots and insert them into ballot boxes directly. Mishaps that happened at early voting will be prevented."

Voters infected with COVID-19 will be permitted to leave their homes after 5:50 p.m. They will be allowed to vote from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. If regular voters are still at polling stations after 6 p.m., the infected voters must wait in a separate space until they leave. The NEC says polling stations will likely be less crowded on Wednesday, as some patients already voted early. There will also be four times more polling stations. However, with COVID-19 cases soaring recently, the possibility of confusion and chaos cannot be ruled out if crowds of voters flock to polling stations. The NEC has vowed to devise additional measures, such as dispatching more election officials.