By Seo Jeong Yun WIRED Korea

The world is watching how COVID-19 will affect Korea’s April 15 general elections and what impact the elections will have on Korea’s fight against the respiratory disease.

The reason is that each poll draws a large number of people, fueling fear about the pandemic -- an average of 3,000 people during the voting hours from 6a.m. to 6p.m.

Moreover, tens of thousands of people in self-isolation without any symptoms will be allowed to go out to vote. For them, the quarantine will be lifted from 5:20p.m. to 7p.m.

True, the daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases has dropped sharply. The number stood at 27 on April 13.
  But the public health authorities cannot afford to lower their guard,  as many Koreans coming from abroad are found to have the virus. About 50,000 people are in self-isolation, with many of them being Korean nationals that have just returned home.

What is at issue is how to guarantee them the basic right to vote while forestalling potential contagion. As a precaution, the National Election Commission is striving to prevent them from mingling with others.

They will have to arrive at the poll before 6p.m. if they are to vote, as all eligible voters are required to do under the election law. The National Election Commission will stand them in a line away from the others in another line.

When those not quarantined are done with voting, those in self-isolation will be allowed to start casting ballots. They will have to apply sanitizer to their hands and put on plastic gloves at the entrance to the polling station. When their identity is confirmed, they are allowed to cast their ballot.

Those in self-solation will not be allowed to vote when they do not wear a face mask or when they have fever or show respiratory symptoms of COVID-19. They are advised by the National Election Commission to walk or drive their own car to the poll, instead of using the public transportation system.

Many of those confirmed with the coronavirus were allowed to vote in their quarters and mail the ballots to their home ballot counting office on March 28. Those who were confirmed after March 28 were allowed to vote on April 10 and 11.

Prior to balloting, all polls were sanitized and unauthorized people are denied access to them until the election day.

When a voter arrives at the polling station, he goes through a thermal check. When the voter is found to have fever or has respiratory symptoms, he is led to a separate poll. When he is done with voting, the poll is sanitized.

Election officials will keep contact with voters to the minimum. They also wear a mask and plastic gloves. They keep a voter from one meter away from others in line.