Braille Misprinted as 'Gangbuk-gu' in Gangnam-gu: Confusion for Disabled and Elderly Voters

During the June 3 local elections, which saw an unprecedented shortage of ballots, it was confirmed today (June 19) that there were numerous instances of confusion during voting for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Although there is a separate "voting management manual" for disabled and elderly voters, training for on-site election staff is conducted by local election commissions in each district, city, and county, with no separate oversight process by the National Election Commission (NEC). As a result, the level of familiarity with the manual varied greatly across different polling stations.

According to data submitted by the NEC to the offices of Representatives Joo Jin-woo and Kim Ye-ji of the People Power Party, there were several cases of confusion at polling stations due to a lack of familiarity with guidelines and poor handling of voting administration for disabled and elderly voters.

The NEC manual includes instructions on guiding disabled and elderly voters, assisting them in voting, and providing voting convenience items.

It also contains details on how to use braille voting aids for the visually impaired and how to use specialized marking devices.

However, according to the voting log of the 8th polling station in Segok-dong, Gangnam-gu, obtained by Rep. Joo, a visually impaired couple arrived to vote but had to rely on assistance from election staff because the braille voting aid was misprinted.

However, one of the spouses refused to trust the election staff's assistance and called an acquaintance to enter the voting booth together. On-site officials, unsure of the rules, called the election commission and resolved the situation after receiving confirmation that the vote would be valid.

At the 4th polling station in Suseo-dong, Gangnam-gu, a visually impaired voter using a braille voting aid claimed that the braille for "Gangnam-gu" was written as "Gangbuk-gu," and the matter was reported to the election commission.

Data on "complaints from the visually impaired" obtained by Rep. Kim also confirmed cases such as braille printing errors on voting aids for the Seoul education superintendent election, braille printing errors in Gangnam-gu's 4th constituency, manufacturing errors on voting aids for the Ulsan education superintendent election, and typos in braille voting aids in Daejeon.

In Sejong, there was a case where instructions on the voting assistance system were given to an accompanying person instead of the voter. In Gyeonggi Province, officials were criticized for explaining the home-voting system to a voter who had already visited an early voting station.

At the 7th polling station in Jangji-dong, Songpa-gu, a son attempted to assist his elderly, visually impaired mother in voting. However, the on-site staff failed to respond immediately and tried to contact the Songpa-gu Election Commission, but the call did not go through.

The voting was finally completed with the son's assistance only after contacting the National Election Commission.

At the 3rd polling station in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, an elderly mother and her son attempted to enter the voting booth together. Staff explained that unless there is a physical disability, entering together due to a lack of formal education is not permitted. The son strongly protested, claiming his family had voted together for 10 years, and left after marking only a portion of the ballot.

Upon learning that the ballot had been processed as invalid, the son protested to the election commission, and a re-vote was conducted after they returned to the polling station.

At the 6th polling station in Jamsil 3-dong, Songpa-gu, it was recorded that a wheelchair user and their assistant received the first ballot together, but only the wheelchair user received the second ballot. How the situation was resolved was not reported.

Rep. Kim said, "We must completely overhaul the National Election Commission's poor system, which fails to inspect even the basics, and carefully redesign the human and physical infrastructure from scratch so that voters with disabilities can vote without any barriers, on an equal footing with non-disabled voters."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.