The NEC plans to thoroughly separate the movement through the polling station and voting time for voters who are in quarantine and to strengthen safety measures for polling staff at temporary polling booths.

According to the Public Official Election Act, voters who arrive at polling stations and are waiting at close of polling should be given a numbered ticket in order to vote, the staff will then separate the voters in quarantine’s movement through the polling station from other voters. 

Polling staff at temporary polling booths in charge of the election management for voters in self-isolation shall wear personal protective equipment, including full-body protective clothing, face protection, masks and medical gloves to prevent exposure to infection.

Details of the measures prepared by the NEC are as follows.

• Voters in quarantine must wear masks and arrive at the polling station just before 6pm, the closing time of voting, and when they arrive at the polling station they will receive a numbered ticket and wait at a place separate from the polling station.

• When all other voters have cast their ballot, they will vote at temporary polling booths one by one in the order on the tickets.

• The quarantined voter will wear plastic gloves after disinfecting their hands with the hand sanitizer placed at the entrance of the temporary polling booth. After confirming their identity, they will sign or place their seal on the voters list. They will then receive their ballot papers and after they have marked it they should seal it inside the temporary polling booth envelope and pass the envelope to the polling station staff working at the temporary polling booth. 

• After voting the quarantined voter should immediately put the plastic gloves worn into the bin and leave the polling station through a different path which does not overlap with other voters. The polling station staff working at the temporary voting booth wearing personal protective equipment shall immediately disinfect the marking device and the polling booth used. 

An official at the NEC said that under the theme of ‘disinfecting as much as possible is the best election management,’ the NEC will do its best to prevent the spread of the infection by strengthening cooperation with related agencies so that all voters can come to vote safely.