An Election During a Pandemic? How? - By Hayden Budofsky
On April 15, around two weeks ago from today, South Korea pulled off something that many said couldn't be done. They held an election. A very monumental and important election for the future of the nation. Three-hundred representatives were chosen for the national legislature within a new but very successful electoral system. Yet how did they do it? At a time of global crisis, and in a place where there is a pretty significant outbreak of Covid-19, many wonder how they pulled it off.
Well, first of all, a bit of background. Every four years, the people of South Korea democratically elect a new legislature, who is in charge of making the country's laws. And every five years (next election is in 2022) the country elects a new president. This process is very similar to America's elections where we have midterms every four years, where we vote for our senators and house of representatives, and a presidential election two years after that. And as it is here, the legislative elections are very important as they can give future presidential candidates momentum moving forward. So it must not be understated how important this election was for the South Korean people, and especially for president Moon-Jae-In's confidence for getting re-elected in 2022.
Coming into the election, many feared that it would be total chaos, but instead, voters found the whole process very organized and under control. If a person wanted to cast their ballot, they were required to wear face-masks and stand in line one meter apart from the next person. When at the ballot box, their hands were disinfected and their temperature was taken before being allowed to finally cast their vote. For the 60,000 individuals who were under quarantine, mainly in the South of the country, they were given very strict guidelines to follow if they wanted to cast their ballot. It took a staff of around 550,000 people to get polling stations disinfected and ready for the election. Although it took a bit of time and effort to accomplish, many put up to the delay for the sake of democracy.
This very tightly regulated system was a success, as there was a 66% voter turnout rate, the highest in two decades. Around 11 million people, 26% of the population, chose to vote in advance, either by polling stations or online. Moon-Jae In's ruling Democratic Party won the majority of the seats in the legislature, which may give the current president a much-needed boost for the next election in 2022. In all, countries around the world can take South Korea as a shining example of how exactly to conduct an election during a global pandemic. Many are praising their effort, and deservedly so. Hopefully, if this is still going on into next year, other countries including the US will conduct their elections this successfully and well-regulated as well.
Links:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52275993
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/15/asia/south-korea-election-intl-hnk/index.html
Well, first of all, a bit of background. Every four years, the people of South Korea democratically elect a new legislature, who is in charge of making the country's laws. And every five years (next election is in 2022) the country elects a new president. This process is very similar to America's elections where we have midterms every four years, where we vote for our senators and house of representatives, and a presidential election two years after that. And as it is here, the legislative elections are very important as they can give future presidential candidates momentum moving forward. So it must not be understated how important this election was for the South Korean people, and especially for president Moon-Jae-In's confidence for getting re-elected in 2022.
Coming into the election, many feared that it would be total chaos, but instead, voters found the whole process very organized and under control. If a person wanted to cast their ballot, they were required to wear face-masks and stand in line one meter apart from the next person. When at the ballot box, their hands were disinfected and their temperature was taken before being allowed to finally cast their vote. For the 60,000 individuals who were under quarantine, mainly in the South of the country, they were given very strict guidelines to follow if they wanted to cast their ballot. It took a staff of around 550,000 people to get polling stations disinfected and ready for the election. Although it took a bit of time and effort to accomplish, many put up to the delay for the sake of democracy.
This very tightly regulated system was a success, as there was a 66% voter turnout rate, the highest in two decades. Around 11 million people, 26% of the population, chose to vote in advance, either by polling stations or online. Moon-Jae In's ruling Democratic Party won the majority of the seats in the legislature, which may give the current president a much-needed boost for the next election in 2022. In all, countries around the world can take South Korea as a shining example of how exactly to conduct an election during a global pandemic. Many are praising their effort, and deservedly so. Hopefully, if this is still going on into next year, other countries including the US will conduct their elections this successfully and well-regulated as well.
Links:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52275993
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/15/asia/south-korea-election-intl-hnk/index.html
Interesting! I feel like in general, beyond the pandemic, online voting would yield more voters, but again these are much more susceptible to hacking and tampering.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely something we should take after if quarantine prevents more primaries or continues until the election.
ReplyDeleteThis is super interesting! I just read that Andrew Yang is suing New York right now because they "cancelled" their primary due to the virus. I wonder what our election in November will be like...
ReplyDeleteThis upcoming election is going to be historical because of this.
ReplyDelete