SEOUL– The ruling and opposition parties have tentatively agreed on a proposal to allow COVID-19 patients and people in quarantine to vote from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the day of the March 9 presidential election after regular polling closes, a lawmaker said Thursday.
The agreement was reached during a meeting of a legislative subcommittee of the National Assembly’s special political reform committee earlier in the day, Rep. Cho Hae-jin of the main opposition People Power Party, who chairs the subcommittee, said in a phone call with Yonhap News Agency.
The rival parties had earlier proposed a revision to the Public Official Election Act to extend voting hours by three hours until 9 p.m. on March 9 to accommodate COVID-19 patients and those in self-isolation.
But the proposal was rejected by the National Election Commission, the election watchdog, and revised to shorten the hours, Cho said.
The subcommittee plans to determine the details, such as transportation for the patients, before putting the proposal to a vote as early as later Thursday during a plenary session of the political reform committee.
The move comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant.
President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday called for measures to guarantee the voting rights of COVID-19 patients and people in self-isolation.
Source: Yonhap News Agency