The National Election Commission (NEC) of the Republic of Korea announced early voting for the 21st National Assembly elections will be held for two days on April 10 and 11 at 3,508 early voting polling stations nationwide. Of these polling stations, 8 will be special early voting special stations set up at care centers where patients with confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) are receiving treatment.  

Polling Hours 6am to 6pm, Voters can Cast Their Ballot at Their Closest Polling Station, Need ID

Electors can vote at any early voting polling station nationwide without prior registration and the location of polling stations can be found on the NEC website (www.nec.go.kr).

The voting hours are from 6am to 6pm, and when a voter goes to cast their ballot, they must bring an identification card with a photograph that has been issued by a governmental organization or public institution such as a resident registration card, passport or driver''s license.

If a voter casts their ballot in a polling station outside of their registered district, they will receive their ballots and addressed return envelope together, and they should mark the ballot papers, put them into the envelope and place the envelope into the ballot box. Those who vote in their registered district only need to receive their ballot papers, mark them and place them in the ballot box. Whether the early voting polling station the voter is casting their ballot at is located inside or outside the district can be checked at the entrance of the polling station.

The return envelopes containing the ballots will be handed over to the relevant post office in the presence of observers after voting has closed at the end of each day. They are then sent by mail to the relevant Gu/Si/Gun election commission. 

Ballot boxes that contain the ballot papers cast by voters inside their registered district will be kept until 6pm on election day in a separate storage place where CCTV is installed in the Gi/Si/Gun election commission building. 

Thorough Measures such as Disinfecting Polling Stations and Maintaining Order to Ensure Voters can Cast Their Ballot Safely

In addition the NEC said it will carry out disinfection at early voting stations both on the day before voting and after at the closing of voting on the first day so that voters can cast their ballot safely.

Additional staff exclusively responsible for checking temperatures will be at the entrance of polling stations and will be assigned to checking voters’ temperature with a contactless thermometer, and voters must enter the polling station wearing sanitary gloves after disinfecting their hands with the hand sanitizer provided.

If a voter has a body temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius or more or has respiratory symptoms, they will vote at a separate polling booth temporarily set up to prevent coming into contact with other voters. The temporary polling booths used by voters will be disinfected and ventilated immediately. 

In addition, the NEC has set a ‘Code of Conduct for Citizens to Participate in Voting for the April 15 National Assembly Elections’ and requests all voters who come to vote to actively cooperating with polling station staff to keep order, including by wearing a mask, refraining from talking inside the polling station, and keeping a distance of more than 1 meter from other voters.

An NEC official said "If you cannot vote on election day, please participate in voting at a nearby polling station during the early voting period” and "we will do our best to manage voting so that voters can feel safe."​