“Voting Rights Should Be Given to Overseas Koreans”

On June 28, the Constitutional Court ruled against the election law and resident voting law that prohibit Korean citizens who are living abroad from voting. It has been eight years since the court decided that “restrictions on overseas Koreans voting’ were constitutional in 1999.

However, the court announced that their time limit to revise the law would be December 31. They set the limit in order to prevent interference with this year’s presidential election and the upcoming general election next April. The current law will be applied until the law is revised.

The chief judge of the Constitutional Court, Kim Jong-dae, announced that, “Limiting suffrage is justified only if it is necessary for national security, the public interest, and the preservation of social order. Even under those circumstances, the essence of the right to vote would not be infringed upon.”

With regard to Article 37, Clause 1 of the election law which prohibits overseas Koreans and Koreans who stay aboard for an extended period of time from voting in presidential and general elections, the court pointed out, “Deciding whether voting rights are given only based on resident registration is violating the constitutional rights of overseas Koreans who are guaranteed the right to vote; it is also against the principle of popular suffrage.”

The judges added, “Limiting suffrage cannot be justified by vague and abstract dangers or technical difficulties that can be overcome by national effort.”

The court also announced that, “Article 14, Clause 1 of the referendum law which restricts oversea Koreans’ voting rights also restricts the voting rights of nationals because the law is only based on resident registration.”

Regarding a limit on the right to participate in local elections, the court decided that, “There are no differences between people who have social security numbers and those who do not; therefore, depriving overseas Koreans of their voting rights without asking the length of their visits is a violation of the constitution.”

woogija@donga.com